The number of people applying for new unemployment-insurance benefits in New York state in the week ending March 15 declined by 2,155, or nearly 11 percent, to 18,121.
Fewer layoffs in the state’s transportation and warehousing, construction, and retail trade industries led the decline in claims,according to a U.S. Department of Labor news release issued today.
The number of New Yorkers continuing to receive unemployment benefits also fell in the week ending March 15 to 244,345, the lowest level so far this year, from 249,203 the week before.
The state data is not seasonally adjusted.
The U.S. Labor Department also reported today that nationwide the number of people filing initial unemployment claims fell by 10,000 to 311,000 for the week ending March 22, compared to the revised figure of 321,000 for the week prior. Analysts had been expecting about 325,000 initial claims in the latest week, according to Yahoo Finance.
The four-week moving average for national initial jobless claims decreased by 9,500 to 317,750 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 March 22 next week.
Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com