Nov. 22 (UPI) — The rollercoaster ride of those filing the first time for unemployment benefits continued on Wednesday, with a seasonally adjusted 209,000 making initial claims last week, 24,000 fewer than the week before.
The total marked the largest one-week decrease in first-time unemployment insurance filings since the week ending June 24, when the weekly total fluctuated down by 29,000, going from 265,000 to 236,000.
The filings, a snapshot that experts watch to find clues about the stability of the U.S. workforce and economy, have bounced around since October. For the week ending Oct. 14, the first-time filing fell by 11,000 to 200,000. Initial claims increased by 12,000 and 8,000 over the next two weeks before dropping by 2,000 by Nov. 4 to 218,000.
First-time claims swung up again by a revised 15,000 to 233,000 for the week ending Nov. 11 before its latest double-digit swing downward last week.
The four-week moving average for first-time filings decreased by 750 to 220,000.
The advance number for everyone filing for unemployment benefits for the week ending Nov. 11 was 1.84 million, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average for the same time was 1,836,750, an increase of 14,250 from the previous week.
It marked the highest four-week moving average for total claims since Dec. 18, 2021, when filings averaged 1,838,000.