Initial Claims Ease Continuing Claims Rise

Initial claims eased from an upwardly revised 375k last week whilst continuing claims rose to a more than 3 year high, excluding the hurricane Katrina spike. from the US department of labor:

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending March 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 351,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 375,000. The 4-week moving average was 359,500, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 361,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent for the week ending Feb. 23, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.1 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Feb. 23 was 2,831,000, an increase of 29,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,802,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,789,000, an increase of 12,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,776,250.

A temporary reprieve for intial claims perhaps however the continued upward trend of continuing claims suggests businesses are reluctant to do more hiring.