Another 1.54 Million Americans Filed for Unemployment Benefits Last Week

In the week ending June 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 1,542,000, a decrease of 355,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 20,000 from 1,877,000 to 1,897,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,002,000, a decrease of 286,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 4,250 from 2,284,000 to 2,288,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 14.4 percent for the week ending May 30, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised down by 0.2 from 14.8 to 14.6 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 30 was 20,929,000, a decrease of 339,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 219,000 from 21,487,000 to 21,268,000. The 4-week moving average was 21,987,500, a decrease of 404,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 54,000 from 22,446,250 to 22,392,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 1,537,122 in the week ending June 6, a decrease of 82,886 (or -5.1 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 271,266 (or 16.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 220,186 initial claims in the comparable week in 2019. In addition, for the week ending June 6, 42 states reported 705,676initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 13.0percent during the week ending May 30, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 18,919,804, a decrease of 178,671 (or -0.9 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 127,607 (or 0.7 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.1 percent and the volume was 1,538,065.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending May 23 was 29,505,027, a decrease of 662,143 from the previous week. There were 1,545,606 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2019.

During the week ending May 23, Extended Benefits were available in the following 30 states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,968 in the week ending May 30, a decrease of 92 from the prior week. There were 1,166 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 251 from the preceding week.

There were 15,269 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 23, an increase of 421 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 11,866, an increase of 473 from the prior week.

During the week ending May 23, 42 states reported 9,715,948 individuals claiming Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 32states reported 518,942individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 23 were in Maine (26.9), Nevada (24.3), Michigan (21.7), Hawaii (20.1), Puerto Rico (19.0), New York (18.7), Pennsylvania (17.5), Georgia (17.2), Massachusetts (16.8), and Rhode Island (16.6).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 30 were in Florida (+32,296), California (+25,372), Oklahoma (+16,662), and Mississippi (+158), while the largest decreases were in New York (-107,161), Michigan (-25,284), Texas (-21,040), Pennsylvania (-18,050), and Washington (-17,507).