More Americans Filed Jobless Claims Than Expected

U.S. unemployment claims totaled 744,000 last week to surpass market expectations, data from the Department of Labor showed.

• The latest figure reflects an increase of 16,000 in the week ending April 3 from the previous week’s revised level of 728,000. Economists surveyed by the Dow Jones expected 694,000.
• Initial claims under state programs totaled 740,787 in the same week, marking a 2.5% increase from the previous week.
• The four-week moving average increased by 2,500 to 723,750 from the previous week’s 721,250.
• The advance seasonally insured unemployment rate was 2.6% for the week ending March 27, unchanged from the previous week.
• The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured employment for the week ending March 27 was 3.734 million, down 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest since March 21, 2020’s 3.094 million.
• The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 27 were in Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia, California, and New York. The largest decreases were in Ohio, Massachusetts, Indiana, Florida, and Michigan.
• The highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending March 20 were in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Nevada, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, Illinois, and California.