Initial and Continued Claims' Four-week Moving Average Declines
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) reports that initial claims and continued claims increased slightly, while both the initial claims’ and continued claims’ four-week moving averages declined for the week ending Jan. 1.
“OESC is committed to ensuring Oklahomans across the state, in both metro and rural areas, have access to job opportunities, and state employers are connecting with eligible candidates to fill open positions,” said Shelley Zumwalt, OESC Executive Director. “Our state leaders are focused on and have been successful in their efforts to attract new businesses to Oklahoma that are offering high-quality new positions to job seekers. In addition, we see existing Oklahoma businesses continuing to grow and offer new job opportunities. As part of our efforts to keep Oklahomans informed and connected, we regularly highlight employment and career fair opportunities on OESC’s social media channels. If you are looking for a job, visit our Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn pages to see highlighted opportunities.”
Weekly Unemployment Numbers for Week Ending Jan. 1
- For the file week ending Jan. 1, the number of initial claims, unadjusted, totaled 1,826, an increase of 64 from the previous week's level of 1,762.
- For the same file week, the less volatile initial claims’ four-week moving average was 2,018, a decrease of 72 from the previous week's average of 2,090.
- The number of continued claims totaled 13,679, an increase of 785 from the previous week’s level of 12,894.
- Continued claims’ four-week moving average was 13,496, a decrease of 443 from the previous week's average of 13,939.
Nationally, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for the week ending Jan. 8 was 230,000, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week's unrevised level, the U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) reports. The four-week moving average was 210,750, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average. For the week ending Jan. 1, the U.S. DOL reports the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1%, a decrease from the previous week's unrevised rate.
The national weekly seasonally adjusted initial claims report is one of 10 components in the Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators. To smooth out the volatility in the weekly initial claims data, a four-week moving average is used to assess trends.
