US Initial Jobless Claims Fall to 206,000, Biggest Drop Since Last November

Workers Returning After Temporary Layoffs Due to Severe Cold

Four-Week Moving Average Also Near Lowest Level in About a Year

The US Department of Labor said on Feb. 19 (local time) that initial jobless claims for last week (Feb. 8–14) totaled 206,000, down 23,000 from a week earlier. It was the largest decline since November last year. The figure also came in below the consensus forecast compiled by Dow Jones (223,000). The four-week moving average, which shows the trend in continuing claims, was 1,845,250, hovering near its lowest level in about a year.

Bloomberg said that "instances in the past year where new applications fell below 210,000 have been few and far between," adding that it "suggests layoffs are generally staying low." It has also been suggested that claims may have declined as workers who were temporarily unable to work due to the severe cold that swept across the US in late January returned to their jobs.

So far this year, employment indicators have shown improvement. Nonfarm payrolls for January, released on the 11th, rose by 130,000 from the previous month, beating market expectations, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in January from 4.4% in December last year.

However, continuing jobless claims—filed by those who have applied for benefits for two weeks or more—rose by 17,000 from the prior week to 1,869,000 in the week of Feb. 1–7, marking the highest level so far this year. With overall job gains not large and new hiring concentrated in certain sectors such as healthcare, vigilance over a potential slowdown in employment remains on and off Wall Street.

By Da-yeon Lim allopen@hankyung.com