Number of Americans Applying for Jobless Benefits Increases Slightly

Enjoy the following report on the number of American applying for jobless benefits. It’s one of the few government-sponsored economic reports you’ll see during the partial government shutdown:

Applications for jobless benefits increased by 1,000 for the week ending September 28, bringing the total to 308,000, up from last week’s revised figure of 307,000, the Labor Department announced on Thursday.

The four-week moving average, a “less volatile” figure, fell by 3,750, bringing the total to 305,000, down from the previous unrevised average of 308,750.

“The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending September 21, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate,” the report reads.

“ The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 21 was 2,925,000, an increase of 104,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,821,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,837,250, a decrease of 4,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,842,000,” it adds.

The states with the largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 21 were Oregon (+489), New Jersey (+327), Massachusetts (+306), Colorado (+304), and Maine (+194).

Meanwhile, California (-3,754), Georgia (-2,719), New York (-2,376), South Carolina (-1,516), and Washington (-1,178) posted the biggest decreases in initial claims.

Markets are falling hard Thursday morning. The weak unemployment applications reports and President Barack Obama's Wednesday warning have given markets little to celebrate: