Initial Jobless Claims Fell By 6,000 in Week of March 18, 2011
March 30, 2011
WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits dropped by 6,000 last week. The Labor Department said Thursday that new applications for unemployment insurance totaled a seasonally adjusted 364,000, down from a revised 370,000 during the week ended March 18, 2011 full text of the Labor Department's report on initial jobless claims is available. A 19,000 jump during the prior week was due in part to temporary layoffs in the automobile industry due to model changeovers. The claims total initially was estimated to be 369,000. The level of claims last week was the lowest since they totaled 351,000 during the week ended March 11, 2011 analysts had expected a drop of about 4,000. The four-week moving average of new weekly jobless claims totaled 359,750, up 1,750 from the previous week, when it stood at 358,000. It was the highest since the average was 371,750 during the period ended January 30, 2011 analysts prefer to track the less-volatile four-week average because it smoothes out the spikes in the weekly reports. During the week ended March 18, 2011 states and territories reported increases, 15 registered declines and one was unchanged. The state data is reported a week later than the national totals. States with the largest gains were Michigan, 21,465; Wisconsin, 8,295; Kentucky, 5,627; New York, 5,626, and Indiana, 4,662. The biggest decreases were in California, 5,785; Virginia, 1,230; Connecticut, 1,122; Missouri, 1,053, and Maine, 456.
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