Initial jobless claims and continuing claims for the current week
- Initial jobless claims 216K versus 215K estimate. Prior week remained at 219K
- 4 week moving average to 213K vs 209.75K last week
- Continuing claims 1729K vs 1738K estimate. Prior week 1722K vs 1724K initially reported
- 4 week moving average 1721.25K vs 1728.75K last week
- The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 22 were in Massachusetts (+3,871), Illinois (+3,767), Rhode Island (+925), Indiana (+423), and Iowa (+392),
- The largest decreases were in California (-8,466), Georgia (-1,247), Pennsylvania (-952), Oregon (-770), and Texas (-743).
With Washington state the epicenter of the coronavirus in the US, there is no measurable increase in the initial claims so far. Going forward the initial claims would be statistic that would react to a weaker economy as a result of coronavirus slowdown.
