Same week a year ago looks like a one-off random drop. The prior week was 211 and the following week 213. So not really "quite a bit higher" this year. Federal layoffs haven't hit yet. Unadjusted claims fell in all of the largest states by federal employment (except tiny rise in DC).
Reposted from
Ernie Tedeschi
Inital claims are 23K above where they were this week last year & in headcount terms slightly above recent nonrecession years (1st chart), but normalized to employment levels still below recent years (2nd). Continuing claims are about 100K above last year, but that was the spread at year start.
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