Updated: 21-Sep-23 09:11 ET

Initial Claims for the Week Ended Sep 16

Updated: 21-Sep-23 09:11 ET

Highlights

• Initial claims for the week ending September 16 declined by 20,000 to just 201,000 (Briefing.com consensus 225,000), hitting their lowest level since January.
• Continuing jobless claims for the week ending September 9 decreased by 21,000 to 1.662 million.

Key Factors

• The four-week moving average for initial claims decreased by 7,750 to 217,000.
• The four-week moving average for continuing claims decreased by 8,750 to 1,687,000.
• The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending September 2 was 1,678,881, a decrease of 93,267 from the previous week. In the same week a year ago, there were 1,295,610 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs.

Big Picture

• The key takeaway from the report is that the low level of initial claims shows that the labor market is still operating in a tight mode, which is going to remain a basis for the Fed to keep operating with a restrictive interest rate mindset.

Category	Sep 16	Sep 9	Sep 2	Aug 26	Aug 19
Initial Claims	201K	221K	217K	229K	232K
4-Wk Moving Avg	217K	225K	230K	238K	237K
Continued Benefits		1662K	1683K	1684K	1719K
4-Wk Moving Avg		1687K	1696K	1703K	1703K