Jobless claims: Another 286,000 Americans filed new claims last week

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Yahoo Finance

Jobless claims: Another 286,000 Americans filed new claims last week

Emily McCormick · Reporter
Thu, January 20, 2022, 8:32 AM

Weekly new jobless claims unexpectedly jumped last week, with some renewed virus-related disruptions at least temporarily impeding the labor market's recovery.

The Labor Department released its latest weekly jobless claims report Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here were the main metrics from the print, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

-- Initial jobless claims, week ended Jan. 15: 286,000 vs. 225,000 expected and a revised 231,000 during prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended Jan. 8: 1.635 million vs. 1.563 million expected and a revised 1.551 million during prior week

Initial unemployment claims rose for a back-to-back week, coming in near the 300,000 level. This represented some backsliding from recent progress in the trajectory of jobless claims. Claims had reached a 52-year low of 188,000 in December.

The most recent move higher in new claims may be due to some impacts from the Omicron variant and ultimately prove temporary, according to some economists.

"Given persistent labor shortages, the trend in layoffs should remain downward as businesses try to avoid laying off workers," Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note ahead of Thursday's report. "However, absenteeism from the Omicron variant could make the weekly data noisy over coming weeks."

{snip}

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-unemployment-claims-week-ended-jan-15-2022-200147927.html

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This is far more than the expected number, 225,000.

You are now free to hate Emily McCormick for reporting the numbers provided by the Department of Labor.

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Here are this morning's banner, which went up before 7:00 a.m., and yesterday's placeholder article.

COMING UP Jobless claims: Another 225,000 Americans likely filed new claims last week
Check back at 8:30 a.m. ET for results

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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/weekly-unemployment-claims-week-ended-jan-15-2022-200147927.html

Yahoo Finance
Jobless claims preview: Another 225,000 Americans likely filed new claims last week
Emily McCormick
Emily McCormick · Reporter
Wed, January 19, 2022, 3:01 PM·2 min read

Weekly new jobless claims likely held steady near 230,000 last week, with some renewed virus-related disruptions at least temporarily impeding the labor market's recovery.

The Labor Department is set to release its latest weekly jobless claims report Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Here are the main metrics expected from the print, based on consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

-- Initial jobless claims, week ended Jan. 15: 225,000 expected, 230,000 during prior week

-- Continuing claims, week ended Jan. 8: 1.563 million expected, 1.559 million during prior week

Initial unemployment claims posted a surprise jump in early January, spiking to the highest since November. Still, at well below 250,000, new weekly jobless claims have come in at a weekly rate that has rivaled pre-virus levels for more than a month, as employers attempt to keep their existing workforces amid widespread shortages. Claims had reached a 52-year low of 188,000 in December and moved up only modestly since then.

The most recent move higher in new claims may have been due to some impacts from the Omicron variant and ultimately prove temporary, according to some economists.

"Given persistent labor shortages, the trend in layoffs should remain downward as businesses try to avoid laying off workers," Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note. "However, absenteeism from the Omicron variant could make the weekly data noisy over coming weeks."

And even without the latest pressures from the virus, the labor market had already been considerably tight heading into 2022, representing one of many supply-side challenges for companies.

"Transportation and labor markets remain tight, availability of materials remain stretched in some categories and in some markets, inflationary pressures are broad-based with little signs of near-term relief," Procter & Gamble Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten said during the company's earnings call Wednesday.

{snip}

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. From the source:

The boilerplate of the report has been changed just a little. The program contact person and number have changed. The change was made two weeks ago. The report from two weeks ago was the first with the new name and number.

Hat tip to the new guy, Kevin Stapleton.

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, January 20, 2022

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending January 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 286,000, an increase of 55,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 230,000 to 231,000. The 4-week moving average was 231,000, an increase of 20,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 210,750 to 211,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending January 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 January 8 was 1,635,000, an increase of 84,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 8,000 from 1,559,000 to 1,551,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,664,250, a decrease of 55,250 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since April 27, 2019 when it was 1,663,500. The previous week's average was revised down by 2,000 from 1,721,500 to 1,719,500.

{snip}

UNADJUSTED DATA

{snip}

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending January 1 was 2,128,752, an increase of 180,114 from the previous week. There were 16,946,982 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.

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

Weekly Claims Archives
Weekly Claims Data

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The Department's Reasonable Accommodation Resource Center converts Departmental information and documents into alternative formats, which include Braille and large print. For alternative format requests, please contact the Department at [phone] (voice) or [phone] (federal relay).

U.S. Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration
Washington, D.C. 20210
Release Number: USDL 22-91-NAT

Program Contacts:
Kevin Stapleton: [phone]
Media Contact: [phone]

[greenjar_01]

2. ANOTHER!