April 24 (UPI) — The Department of Labor said Thursday initial jobless claims, seasonally adjusted, were 222,000 for the week ending April 19.
That’s 6,000 more than the previous week’s revised level.
In the comparable week a year ago, initial jobless claims were 202,619, according to the Labor Department.
The numbers were close to the 220,000 expected by economists polled by the Wall Street Journal.
Continuing unemployment claims for the week ending April 12 dropped 37,000 to 1.84 million.
The insured unemployment rate — the number of unemployed people getting benefits as a percentage of covered employment — was 1.2%.
“In the week ending April 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 222,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level,” the Department of Labor said in a statement. “The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 215,000 to 216,000. The 4-week moving average was 220,250, a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised average.”
The biggest increases in initial jobless claims for the week ending April 12 were in Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Connecticut.
The biggest drops in initial claims were in California, Tennessee, Oregon, Illinois and Wisconsin.
Without seasonal adjustment there were 209,782 initial jobless claims for the week ending April 19.
