–Repeating Story Originally Sent At 8:30 a.m ET
–Unadjusted Claims +169,085; Current Week Usually Largest Of The Year
–4-Week Moving Average -4k To 427,500, Low Since Aug. 2, 2008 Week

By Kevin Kastner

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment
benefits fell 17,000 to 421,000 in the December 4 post-holiday week,
slightly the 425,000 level expected, the U.S. Labor Department reported
Thursday.

A Labor Department analyst said that seasonal factors expected
unadjusted claims to rise by 46.9%, or about 194,000 claims in the
post-holiday week. The week after Thanksgiving typically posts the
largest weekly unadjusted increase of the entire year, not only due to
a rebound in the holiday week, but also because of layoffs in seasonal
job sectors, such as construction.

Unadjusted claims actually rose only 40.9%, or 169,085 claims, to
582,007, resulting in the decline in the seasonally adjusted claims
level. Unadjusted claims were at a level of 665,685 in the comparable
week a year ago.

The analyst said that Alaska was the only state estimated in the
current week’s claims data..

Economists surveyed by Market News International had expected
initial claims to fall to 425,000 in the current week, from the 436,000
level originally reported in the previous week. The November 27 week’s
level was revised up slightly to 438,000.

With this week’s decrease in seasonally adjusted initial claims,
the seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average fell by 4,000 to 427,500
in the December 4 week. This is the fifth consecutive weekly decline,
with the four-week average now the lowest since the August 2, 2008 week.

In the November 27 holiday week, continuing claims fell by 191,000
to 4,086,000, the lowest level since the November 15, 2008 week.
Unadjusted continuing claims surged 522,787 to 4,188,560 in the November
27 week, still well below the 5,400,752 level a year earlier.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 3.2% in
the November 27 week from 3.4% in the prior three weeks. The current
rate is down sharply from 4.0% in the comparable rate a year earlier and
is the lowest level since the November 22, 2008 week, when it stood at
3.1%.

The unemployment rate among the insured labor force is well below
that reported monthly by the Labor Department because claims are
approved for the most part only for job losers, not the job leavers and
labor force reentrants included in the monthly report.

The Labor Department said that the level of unadjusted Emergency
Unemployment Compensation benefits claims fell by 233,032 in the
November 20 week, bringing that category to 3,711,136. Extended benefits
claims fell 160,195 to 795,733 not seasonally adjusted.

The Labor Department reported that a total of 8,297,938 persons
claimed unemployment benefits in the November 20 week, down 611,944 from
the 8,909,882 claims reported in the previous week and well below the
9,546,500 persons in the comparable week a year ago. These data are not
seasonally adjusted, and include regular state claims, federal employee
claims, new veterans claims, the EUC and extended benefits programs,
state additional benefits, and STC/Workshare claims.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

[TOPICS: MAUDS$,MT$$$$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]