South By North Strategies, Ltd.

For the benefit week ending on October 3rd, 17,292 North Carolinians filed initial claims for unemployment insurance, and 180,235 individuals applied for continuing insurance benefits. Compared to the prior week, there were more initial and fewer continuing claims. These figures come from data released today 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 17,040 initial claims were filed over the last four weeks, along with an average of 183,578 continuing claims. Compared to the previous four-week period, initial claims rose slightly and continuing claims fell slightly.

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

Although new and continuing claims appear to have peaked for this cycle, the claims levels remain elevated and point to a labor market that remains extremely weak.