United States Continuing Jobless Claims

Continuing Jobless Claims reflect the number of people who have been receiving unemployment benefits for a while. The indicator is published weekly. A person receiving unemployment benefits needs to refile a jobless claims after each week of unemployment. Thus, the number of individuals receiving unemployment benefits is calculated by the number of such repeated claims.

Unemployment benefits are funded by the governmental insurance system. In order to encourage people to seek employment, benefits are paid for a limited period, and such benefits are smaller than the average wages across the country. Claimant should meet the following criteria: the person must be actively seeking job (and be able to prove it) and must be unemployed due to economic reasons and must be validated as not fired for causes.

This figure does not reflect the general US unemployment rate, because it does not include unemployed people who are not eligible for benefit or do not file claims. Data correlates with the unemployment level, but it is not a 100% correlation.

In general, the number of continuing claims reflects economic cycles, but it is not a leading indicator of the labor market health. Economists pay more attention to initial jobless claims. However, a sharp decrease in the number of claims can also be connected with the employment of such claimant.