South By North Strategies, Ltd.

NC Unemployment Claims: Week of 3/26

For the benefit week ending on March 26th, 11,102 North Carolinians filed initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits, and 117,620 individuals applied for state-funded continuing benefits. Compared to the prior week, there were fewer initial and continuing claims. These figures come from data released by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Averaging new and continuing claims over a four-week period — a process that helps adjust for seasonal fluctuations and better illustrates trends — shows that an average of  12,556 initial claims were filed over the previous four weeks, along with an average of 122,518 continuing claims. Compared to the previous four-week period, there were fewer initial and continuing claims.

One year ago, the four-week average for initial claims stood at 14,610 and the four-week average of continuing claims equaled 194,750.

While the number of claims has dropped over the past year so has covered employment. Last week, covered employment totaled 3.7 million, down from 3.9 million a year ago.

The graph (right) shows the changes in unemployment insurance claims (as a share of covered employment) in North Carolina since the recession’s start in December 2007.

Both new and continuing claims appear to have peaked for this cycle, and the four-week averages of new and continuing claims have fallen considerably. Yet continuing claims remain at an elevated level, which suggests that unemployed individuals are finding it difficult to find new positions.

Around The Dial – 4/14/11

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• Martin Wolf is not impressed by the GOP budget plan.
• Thomas Ferguson discusses political polarization.
• Rortybomb points out that “Obama is bad at losing.”
• Economix points out the three largest tax breaks for individuals.
• The Baseline Scenario has one Medicare solution.

The Budget Debate, Joined

The PBS NewsHour reports on President Obama’s speech about the federal budget and deficit.