The number of people filing initial applications for unemployment benefits in New York state declined more than 12 percent to 17,494 in the week ending Feb. 21, from 20,006 the week before. That’s the lowest level of unemployment claims in the state since mid-October.
Fewer layoffs in New York’s construction, retail trade, and manufacturing industries. led the decline, according to a U.S. Department of Labor news release issued today. New York posted the second-largest decrease in claims among the 50 states in the latest week, behind only California.
The number of people continuing to receive unemployment-insurance benefits in the Empire State also fell to 217,491 in the week ending Feb. 21 from 221,393 in the prior week, according to the Labor Department data.
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The state data is not seasonally adjusted.
Nationally, it’s a different story.
The U.S. Labor Department also reported today that nationwide the number of people filing initial unemployment claims rose by 7,000 to 320,000 for the week ending Feb. 28, the highest level in more than nine months. Economists and analysts had been expecting about 295,000 initial claims in the latest week.
The four-week moving average for national, first-time jobless claims jumped by 10,250 to 304,750 in the latest week. The U.S. data is seasonally adjusted.
The Labor Department will release state data for new unemployment-benefit filings for the week ending Feb. 28 next week.
Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com
