U.S. weekly jobless claims decline further; mid-Atlantic factory activity cools

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Yahoo! Finance

U.S. weekly jobless claims decline further; mid-Atlantic factory activity cools

Thu, May 20, 2021, 8:37 AM·5 min read
By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped further below 500,000 last week, but jobless rolls swelled in early May, which could temper expectations for an acceleration in employment growth this month.

Indeed, other data on Thursday showed a measure of factory employment in the mid-Atlantic region fell in May. But businesses in the region that covers eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware increased employees' work hours, suggesting problems finding workers. Labor and raw material shortages were likely behind the significant slowdown in the pace of growth in output at the region's factories this month.

The supply constraints follow pent-up demand unleashed by the economy's reopening after being severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year. ... "If the data are taken at face value, it would suggest both a reduction in layoffs and a slowing in hiring, which given the rising level of labor demand could only be explained by a reduction in labor supply," said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor a Brean Capital in New York.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 444,000 for the week ended May 15, the Labor Department said. That was the lowest since mid-March 2020 and held claims below 500,000 for two straight weeks. ... Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 450,000 applications for the latest week. Claims remain well above the 200,000 to 250,000 range that is viewed as consistent with healthy labor market conditions. They have dropped from a record 6.149 million in early April 2020.

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Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/initial-jobless-claims-decreased-pandemic-144502025.html

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Sorry I'm late. Computer problems.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. From the source:

https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf

News Release

Connect with DOL at
https://blog.dol.gov

TRANSMISSION OF MATERIALS IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL
8:30 A.M. (Eastern) Thursday, May 20, 2021

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending May 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 444,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week's level was revised up by 5,000 from 473,000 to 478,000. The 4-week moving average was 504,750, a decrease of 30,500 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,250 from 534,000 to 535,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7 percent for the week ending May 8, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 8 was 3,751,000, an increase of 111,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 15,000 from 3,655,000 to 3,640,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,681,000, an increase of 24,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 8,750 from 3,665,000 to 3,656,250.

{snip}

UNADJUSTED DATA

{snip. Emphasis mine}

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending May 1 was 15,975,448, a
decrease of 886,568 from the previous week. There were 20,974,625 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in
the comparable week in 2020.

{snip the rest of the twelve-page news release, until the end}

Weekly Claims Archives
Weekly Claims Data

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