U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Decline, Insured Unemployment Rises

For the week ending March 1, preliminary seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims totaled 221,000, reflecting a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week's revised level of 242,000.

Despite this decline, the 4-week moving average saw a slight increase of 250, reaching 224,250, compared to the prior week's unrevised average of 224,000.

Insured Unemployment Rate Holds Steady

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.2% for the week ending February 22, the same as the previous week's unrevised rate.

Increase in Insured Unemployment

For the same period, the number of seasonally adjusted insured unemployed individuals increased by 42,000, bringing the total to 1,897,000. This was up from the prior week's revised figure of 1,855,000, which had been adjusted down by 7,000 from the originally reported 1,862,000. The 4-week moving average for insured unemployment also edged up by 2,750, reaching 1,866,000, compared to the revised average of 1,863,250 from the previous week.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor

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