Reuters
U.S. jobless claims fell in latest week
Thursday April 8, 8:30 am ET
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Labor Department
report of initial state jobless benefit claims, seasonally
adjusted.
Week Ended Initial Claims 4-Week Avg. Continued Claims
04/03/04 328,000 336,750 Unavailable
03/27/04 342,000 340,000-r 3,010,000
03/20/04 344,000-r 340,000-r 3,050,000-r
03/13/04 333,000 342,000 3,027,000-r
r-revised
REVISIONS:
INITIAL CLAIMS: March 20 from 345,000
FOUR-WK AVG: March 27 from 340,250; March 20 from 340,250
CONTINUED CLAIMS: March 20 from 3,062,000; March 13 from
3,030,000
STATES WITH DECREASE IN CLAIMS OF MORE THAN 1,000:
The department said seven states reported a decrease in
claims of more than 1,000 in the week ended March 27, the latest
period for which data are available. Among the largest were:
Oklahoma -3,535
Michigan -3,001
California -1,948
STATES WITH INCREASE IN MORE THAN 1,000:
The department said there were four states that reported an
increase in claims of more than 1,000 in the week ended March
27, the latest period for which data are available. Among the
largest were:
New York 1,661
Kentucky 1,480
Oregon 1,477
FORECAST:
Reuters survey of U.S. economists forecast:
U.S. jobless claims 340,000 in the April 3 week
HISTORICAL COMPARISON/NOTES:
U.S. JOBLESS CLAIMS LOWEST SINCE 320,000 IN JAN. 13, 2001 WK
U.S. 4-WEEK AVG OF INITIAL CLAIMS LOWEST SINCE 335,750 IN
NOV. 25, 2000 WK
The insured unemployment rate, a measurement of the work
force receiving unemployment benefits, was 2.4 percent in the
week ended March 27, unchanged from the prior week.
The department said 113,476 individuals filed for the
government program that extended unemployment benefits in the
week ended March 20, down from 161,806 in the prior week.
Michigan said it had fewer layoffs in the automobile
industry. Oklahoma, California, New York, Kentucky and Oregon
had no comment. |
