In the week ending Nov. 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial U.S. jobless claims was 505,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised figure of 505,000. The four-week moving average was 514,000, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week's revised average of 520,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.3% for the week ending Nov. 7, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.3%.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Nov. 7 was 5,611,000, a decrease of 39,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5,650,000. The four-week moving average was 5,711,500, a decrease of 83,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,795,000.
The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.992 million.
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 479,295 in the week ending Nov. 14, a decrease of 53,132 from the previous week. There were 513,000 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.
Elsewhere, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he expects U.S. economic growth will extend into next year and called on Congress to pass "as soon as possible" legislation intended to prevent another financial crisis.
"We expect continued growth in the fourth quarter and ahead in 2010," Geithner said in prepared testimony today to the Joint Economic Committee.
Geithner urged Congress to pass a financial regulation overhaul intended to strengthen the banking system and guard against "market-driven excess," to avoid a repeat of the worst crisis since the Great Depression. Congress is considering a plan that includes changes to oversight of large banks, consumer protection and derivatives.
"We should never again face a situation -- so devastating in the case of AIG -- where a virtually unregulated major player in the derivatives market can impose risks on the entire system," Geithner said, referring to American International Group Inc., the insurance company whose near collapse prompted government intervention to protect the rest of the financial system.
The U.S. economy is projected to grow 3% at an annual rate in the final three months of 2009, the latest Bloomberg News survey of economists showed, after expanding at a 3.5% pace in the third quarter.
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