U.S. Jobless Claims Reverse Gains Posted Last Week

Economics / Unemployment
Jan 21, 2011 - 02:24 AM

By: Asha_Bangalore

Initial jobless claims dropped 37,000 to 404,000 during the week ended January 15 after advancing 30,000 in the prior week. Additional weekly readings will be necessary to confirm if the reversal is not temporary.



Continuing claims, which lag initial claims by one week, fell 26,000 to 3.86 million. It is unclear if the decline in continuing claims since October 2010 indicates an increase in employment or the fact that people have exhausted their benefits (see Chart 7), which is rough 99 weeks but varies across states. If it is the former, it is a strong sign of strength.



Asha Bangalore — Senior Vice President and Economist

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