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In each Economic Update, the Research staff analyzes recently released economic indicators and addresses what these indicators mean for REALTORS® and their clients. Today’s update discusses jobless claims.
- Initial unemployment insurance claims for the week ending March 2 dropped to 340,000, a decline of 7,000 claims from the previous week’s upwardly revised figure. Although the weekly claims data is volatile and subject to revisions which have generally been upwards, claims have been trending downwards and appear headed to the pre-recession level of about 300,000. The 4-week moving average which is a better measure of trend was at 333,389.
- The number of continuing claims or claims filed for the second week of unemployment or longer also declined to 3.094 million from 3.4 million a year ago.
- What this Means to REALTORS®: Fewer claims mean less unemployment—more job growth and stability. Jobs drive real estate. Clients may be worried or confused about the current economic news. The recent jobs report is good news. In fact, even with the fiscal sequester, NAR projects 1.2 million non-farm net new jobs in 2013.
Notice: The information on this page may not be current. The archive is a collection of content previously published on one or more NAR web properties. Archive pages are not updated and may no longer be accurate. Users must independently verify the accuracy and currency of the information found here. The National Association of REALTORS® disclaims all liability for any loss or injury resulting from the use of the information or data found on this page.
