Unemployment Aid Claims Jump By 20K

Oh, yes. It’s that time again. It’s time for your weekly unemployment claims report.

Applications for jobless benefits jumped by 20,000 for the week ending February 16, bringing the total to 362,000, up from last week’s revised figure of 342,000, the Labor Department announced on Thursday.

The four-week moving average, a “less volatile” figure, increased by 8,000, bringing the total to 360,750, up from last week’s revised average of 352,750.

“The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending February 9, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate,” the report reads.

“The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 9 was 3,148,000, an increase of 11,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,137,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,186,250, a decrease of 6,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,193,000,” the report adds,

The states with the largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 9 were Kansas (+2,344), Puerto Rico (+492), Virginia (+465), Indiana (+205), and Rhode Island (+176).

Meanwhile, California (-4,830), New York (-4,401), Oregon (-2,211), Pennsylvania (-2,020), and Wisconsin (-1,670) posted the biggest decreases in initial claims.

So the seasonally adjusted total is up by 20K and the four-week four-week average is up by 8K. What headlines are mainstream outlets running?

Screen grabs.

"Claims for US jobless aid suggest modest hiring," The Associated Press reports.

“Jobless claims jump, but hiring remains slow, steady,” reads the headline on NBC News’ site.

“Inflation Was In Check Last Month; Jobless Claims Jumped Last Week,” reads the NPR headline.

“Jobless claims rise more than expected,” reads the official Reuters headline.

Yeah.

Oh! Also, as Zero Hedge notes, today’s estimate of 362K puts us back exactly where we were at this point last year:

Courtesy Zero Hedge

Forward!

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Front page photo courtesy Getty Images.