The Department of Labor
reported this morning that seasonally adjusted first-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits fell to 358,000 for the week ending Feb. 4. That was a drop of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 373,000, and the second-lowest level since April 2008. The 4-week moving average that flattens volatility in the weekly numbers was 366,250, a drop of 11,000 from the previous week's revised average of 377,250.
When regular and emergency extended benefits are all taken into account, the total number of people claiming benefits for the week ending Jan. 21 was 7,663,205, an increase of 7,982 from the previous week.
Extended benefits are available in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin during the week ending Jan. 21.
How much longer they may be available is up to Congress. Republicans are determined to reduce the number of weeks of benefits available from the current 99 weeks in the states hardest hit by unemploymemt to 59 weeks as part of a deal extending the payroll tax cut through the end of 2012. And, as Joan McCarter reported Wednesday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) is apparently ready to consider some kind of reduction in how long benefits can be collected. If that happens, hundreds of thousands of Americans still receiving benefits could be cut off March 1 and others would soon lose their benefits as well.