After hitting a historic low number of filings, first-time claims for state unemployment insurance benefits increased last week, yet still remain relatively low, according to a government report.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that 1,311 initial claims for unemployment coverage were filed the week ending Saturday in the state. The number filed is 35% higher than the downwardly revised 969 who sought benefits in the state during the week ending Sept. 24.
The 969 weekly initial claims total is the second-lowest number ever filed in a one-week period.
The lowest number of initial claims filed in one week occurred in October 1989 when 184 claims were filed. But the 1989 total is suspiciously low considering weekly totals before and after were over 6,000 and 2,000, respectively.
Meanwhile, continued claims, those filed after at least one week of unemployment, increased 3%, or from 8,919 claims the week ending Sept. 17 to 9,213 claims the week ending Sept. 24.
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Prior to September, continued claims had never been below 10,000 for one week, according to records that date back to 1987.
This marks the fourth-consecutive week continued claims have been below 10,000.
The decline two weeks ago in both initial and continued claims helped propel both four-week moving averages lower.
The four-week moving average of initial claims declined from 1,920 the week ending Sept. 24 to 1,378 claims the following week.
Likewise, the four-week moving average of continued claims declined from 9,685 the week ending Sept. 17 to 9,447 the following week.
Oklahoma was among five of six neighboring states that reported an increase in initial claims the week ending Saturday. Only Texas reported a decline in first-time claims among neighboring states.
Nationally, first-time claims increased by 29,000 to 219,000 for the week ending Saturday.
