The number of people applying for new unemployment-insurance benefits in New York state in the week ending March 22 fell by 225, or just over 1 percent, to 17,896, according to a U.S. Department of Labor news release issued today.
That’s the lowest number of initial jobless claims in New York so far this year.
The number of New Yorkers continuing to receive unemployment benefits declined to 239,844 in the week ending March 22, also a new low for 2014, from 244,345 the week before.
Both the new and continuing claims numbers signal an improving job market in New York, with fewer people being laid off.
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 rose by 16,000 to 326,000 for the week ending March 29, compared to the revised figure of 310,000 for the week prior. Analysts had been expecting 317,000 initial claims in the latest week, according to Yahoo Finance.
The four-week moving average for national initial jobless claims edged up by 250 to 319,500 in the latest week. The U.S. data is seasonally adjusted.
Next week, the Labor Department will release state data for new unemployment-benefit filings for the week ending March 29.
Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com