U.S. unemployment claims increase

In the week ending Jan. 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims in the U.S. was 480,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised figure. The four-week moving average was 468,750, an increase of 11,750 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending Jan. 23, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Jan. 23 was 4.602 million, an increase of 2,000 from the preceding week’s revised level. The four-week moving average was approximately 4.618 million, a decrease of 51,250 from the preceding week’s revised average.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.362 million.