Initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 5,000 for the week ended April 20, according to data released Thursday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was the lowest level in nine weeks, ABC news reported.
According to Reuters, the decrease was unexpected, “pointing to still tight labor market conditions.”
The four-week moving average was 213,250, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 214,50, according to the BLS.
The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending April 6 was 1.8 million, a decrease of 79,491 from the previous week. Last year, there were also 1.8 million weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 6, by percentage, were in New Jersey (2.7), California (2.3), Rhode Island (2.1), Massachusetts (2.0), Minnesota (2.0), Illinois (1.9), New York (1.9), Pennsylvania (1.7), Washington (1.7), Alaska (1.6), Nevada (1.6) and Puerto Rico (1.6).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 13 were in California (2,405 new claims), Connecticut (1,613), Georgia (1,419), Oregon (1,397) and New York (506), while the largest decreases were in New Jersey (4,370 fewer claims), Wisconsin (1,843), Pennsylvania (1,604), Illinois (1,573) and Minnesota (1,274).
