REPEAT: MNI DATA ANALYSIS: US Jobless Claims Fall To 232,000>

Repeats Story Initially Transmitted at 12:30 GMT Apr 18

--Initial Claims Four-Week Average +1,250 To 231,250; 5th Straight Gain

By Kevin Kastner and Holly Stokes

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - Initial claims U.S. state unemployment benefits 

fell by 1,000 to 232,000 in the April 14 employment survey week, 

slightly above the 230,000 level expected by analysts in an MNI survey, 

data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed. 

     The level of claims is up 5,000 from the 227,000 level in the March 

17 employment survey week, a slightly negative factor for April 

payrolls. 

     The four-week moving average for initial claims, which tends to be 

a better measure of the underlying trend of the data, rose by 1,250 to 

231,250 in the April 14 week, a fifth straight increase. Even so, the 

level of the four-week average remains very low. 

     If the number of headline claims does not change next week and 

there are no revisions to data from the past four weeks, the four-week 

average will rise by 3,500 as the 218,000 level in the March 24 week 

rolls out of the calculation. 

     Seasonal adjustment factors had expected a decrease of 2.2%, or 

5,134, in unadjusted claims. Instead, unadjusted claims fell by 6,180 

(2.7%) to 225,545. The current week's level was only slightly below the 

225,864 level in the comparable week a year ago. 

     The only states where claims were estimated were Colorado and 

Maine. However, the claims taking procedures in the Virgin Islands and 

Puerto Rico have still not returned to normal.   

--CONTINUING CLAIMS DIP 

     The level of continuing claims fell by 15,000 to 1.863 million in 

the April 7 week after rising by 60,000 in the previous week. Continuing 

claims have seen a see-saw pattern in recent months. 

     Before seasonal adjustment, continuing claims fell by 74,700 to 

1.927 million, well below the 2.042 million level seen in the comparable 

week last year. 

     The four-week average for continuing claims, a more reliable 

measure when the continuing claims are rapidly moving week-to-week, rose 

by 6,750 to 1.859 million. 

     The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held steady at 

1.3% in the April 7 week, down from 1.4% in the same week a year 

earlier. 

     The unemployment rate among the insured labor force is well below 

that reported monthly by the Labor Department because claims are 

approved for the most part only for job losers, not the job leavers and 

labor force reentrants included in the monthly report. 

     ** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **