U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to New Pandemic Low of 281,000

In the week ending October 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 281,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 290,000 to 291,000. The 4-week moving average was 299,250, a decrease of 20,750 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 319,750 to 320,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent for the week ending October 16, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 16 was 2,243,000, a decrease of 237,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 14, 2020 when it was 1,770,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 1,000 from 2,481,000 to 2,480,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,513,250, a decrease of 142,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 21, 2020 when it was 2,071,750. The previous week’s average was revised down by 250 from 2,655,500 to 2,655,250.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 245,482 in the week ending October 23, a decrease of 11,733 (or -4.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 2,123 (or -0.8 percent) from the previous week. There were 732,533 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending October 23, 33 states reported 2,532 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent during the week ending October 16, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,991,160, a decrease of 177,053 (or -8.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 59,720 (or 2.8 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 5.1 percent and the volume was 7,458,511.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending October 9 was 2,830,661, a decrease of 448,386 from the previous week. There were 23,479,913 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending October 9, Extended Benefits were available in the following 4 states: Alaska, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New Mexico.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 818 in the week ending October 16, a decrease of 95 from the prior week. There were 486 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 127 from the preceding week.

There were 7,712 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending October 9, an increase of 30 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 5,203, a decrease of 250 from the prior week.

During the week ending October 9, 42 states reported 270,013 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 45 states reported 244,379 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending October 9 were in District of Columbia (7.4), Puerto Rico (3.7), California (3.2), Georgia (2.7), Illinois (2.7), Hawaii (2.6), New Jersey (2.5), Nevada (2.4), the Virgin Islands (2.4), and Alaska (2.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending October 16 were in California (+9,748), Tennessee (+1,688), Florida (+1,266), Georgia (+1,088), and Illinois (+512), while the largest decreases were in Virginia (-7,380), Michigan (-4,083), Pennsylvania (-4,033), Kentucky (-2,753), and Ohio (-2,287).