–Initial Claims Rise 51,000 To 454,000 In January 22 Week
–Cont. Claims Level Down 159,000 From December Employment Survey Week
–Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina Report Unexpectd Rise

By Brai Odion-Esene and Ian McKendry

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment
benefits rose by an unexpected 51,000 to 454,000 in the January 22 week,
a level not seen since the October 30 week of last year when claims came
in at 459,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

A Labor Department analyst said the large increase in seasonally
adjusted claims was due to two reasons. The first is the “normal”
seasonal factor volatility, the second is that four states reported an
increase in claims “that was due to snow effects.”

These states are Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South
Carolina. “They came through with unexpected increases in claims —
above what would have been expected,” the analyst said.

According to the analyst, seasonal factors had expected a 22% drop,
or about 121,000. Instead, unadjusted claims actually fell 12.3%, or
67,491 claims, to 482,399, resulting in the large rise in the seasonally
adjusted claims level. Unadjusted claims were at a level of 502,710 in
the comparable week a year ago.

Economists surveyed by Market News International had expected
initial claims to jump slightly to 405,000 in the current week, from the
404,000 level originally reported in the previous week. The January 15
week’s level was revised down to 403,000.

The seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average rose by 15,750,000 to
428,750 in the January 22 week, just about reversing last week’s loss.

In the January 15 employment survey week, continuing claims rose by
94,000 to 3,991,000, down 159,000 from the 4.150 million reported in the
December 18 survey week. Unadjusted continuing claims fell by 58,900 to
4,593,535 in the January 15 week, still well below the 5,602,357 level a
year earlier.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate rose slightly to
3.2% in the January 15 week. The current rate is down sharply from 3.7%
in the comparable week a year earlier.

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 rose by 63,886 in the January
8 post-holiday week, bringing that category to 3,783,493. Extended
benefits claims fell by 161,913 to 835,539 not seasonally adjusted in
the same week.

The Labor Department reported that a total of 9,410,977 persons
claimed unemployment benefits in the January 8 week, down 223,826 from
the 9,634,803 claims reported in the previous week, but well below the
11,535,142 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 **

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