US Initial Jobless Claims Decline to Pre-Hurricanes Levels
New applications for US unemployment benefits fell back last week to levels seen before Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit Southeastern states.
Initial claims decreased by 15,000 to 227,000 in the week ended Oct. 19. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 242,000 applications.
Hurricanes that hit large swaths of the South within a couple of weeks have left many out of a job but also likely unable to file for benefits right away, causing weekly data to fluctuate.
Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, increased to nearly 1.9 million in the previous week, the most in almost three years, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.
While a rise in recurring claims traditionally indicates that people are having a harder time finding a job, the recent data likely reflect the impact from the two storms. A weeks-long strike at Boeing Co. may have also led to furloughs at idle suppliers, according to economists. The work stoppage continues after some 33,000 factory workers on Wednesday rejected a new labor contract.
The four-week moving average of new applications, a metric that helps smooth out volatility, rose to 238,500.
Before adjusting for seasonal factors, initial claims fell last week in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee — states that were impacted by Helene.
The report also showed large declines in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, which recently experienced a pick up of applications on the back of manufacturing layoffs.
Source: Bloomberg
