US Jobless Claims Increase to 239,000, Led by Jump in California

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Economics

US Jobless Claims Increase to 239,000, Led by Jump in California

• Applications for benefits rose for first time in three weeks
• California made up over a third of rise in unadjusted data

By Augusta Saraiva
April 13, 2023 at 8:32 AM EDT | Updated on April 13, 2023 at 8:54 AM EDT

Applications for US unemployment benefits rose for the first time in three weeks, largely due to a jump in California and suggesting some more softening in the labor market.

Initial unemployment claims rose by 11,000 to 239,000 in the week ended April 8, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for 235,000 applications.

{snip}

[progree]

1. Continuing claims: 1,810k (DOWN 13k from previous week, previous week unrevised)

https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf

In last Thursday's report (4/6), continuing claims was reported as 1,823k
(1,823 - 13 = 1,810 v/ )

Continuing claims is what the DOL report calls insured unemployment.

Unfortunately, the graphs at the above link show considerable growth in both initial and continuing claims since October. But still these are low levels historically (and the labor force is much larger than decades ago).

As reported in the OP:

Initial claims: 239,000, up by 11,000 from the previous week. The previous week was unrevised

In last Thursday's report (4/6), initial claims was reported as 228,000
(228 + 11 = 239 v/ )