Big Unexpected Surge in Weekly Jobless Claims

The four-week moving average was recorded at approximately 289,750, which was a decrease of only 3,250 from the previous revised reading of 293,000 claims.

The number of claims fell below the 300,000 level in late July and only rose above it again in January. This was, for a while, the longest that the four-week moving average had remained below the 300,000 level since 2000.

According to the Labor Department, no special factors had an impact on this past week’s reported initial jobless claims.

Continuing claims, which are reported with a one-week lag, decreased by 51,000 to 2.354 million for the week that ended January 31.

ALSO READ: With Low Gas Prices Why Are Consumers Staying So Frugal

One has to wonder, even with no special factors, just how many of these claims were from recently laid off oil and gas workers. If you go through the data, it doesn’t really seem to be the case — at least not yet. The Department of Labor showed the following data:

• The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 31 were in California (+18,068), Pennsylvania (+1,507), Georgia (+1,078), Michigan (+1,055) and Ohio (+1,051), while the largest decreases were in New Jersey (-1,608), Rhode Island (-988), Virginia (-522), Tennessee (-383) and Nebraska (-294).