Jobless claims fell more than expected for the week ending August 28th, according to the latest data from the Department of Labor…(DOL)

  • Initial claims were 340,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised level. Forecasts had claims falling to 345k. This was the lowest level since March 14th, 2020.
  • The 4-week moving average was 355,000, a decrease of 11,750 from the previous week’s revised average. This was the lowest level since March 14th, 2020.

Continuing claims also beat expectations for the week ending August 21st…

  • Continuing claims fell to 2,748,000, a decrease of 160,000 from the previous week’s revised level. Forecasts had claims only falling to 2.775M. This is the lowest level since March 14th, 2020.
  • The 4-week moving average was 2,855,000, a decrease of 58,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This was the lowest level since March 21st, 2020

The state-level data was a mixing pot as always for the week ending August 21st…

  • The states with the largest increases were Illinois (+3,832), Florida (+2,545), Maryland (+1,723), Oregon (+1,377), and New Jersey (+837),
  • The states with the largest decreases were Michigan (-6,757), Virginia (-4,670), Texas (-3,040), Ohio (-1,515), and Georgia (-1,407).

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