U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to Pandemic Low, Showing Signs of Lasting Recovery

In the week ending October 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 269,000, a decrease of 14,000 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 2,000 from 281,000 to 283,000. The 4-week moving average was 284,750, a decrease of 15,000 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 500 from 299,250 to 299,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent for the week ending October 23, 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 23 was 2,105,000, a decrease of 134,000 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 4,000 from 2,243,000 to 2,239,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,356,750, a decrease of 155,500 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 1,000 from 2,513,250 to 2,512,250.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 240,216 in the week ending October 30, a decrease of 7,114 (or -2.9 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 6,872 (or 2.8 percent) from the previous week. There were 737,503 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending October 30, 35 states reported 2,195 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.4 percent during the week ending October 23, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,889,228, a decrease of 97,398 (or -4.9 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 36,031 (or 1.8 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 4.7 percent and the volume was 6,857,323.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending October 16 was 2,672,948, a decrease of 157,731 from the previous week. There were 22,013,937 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending October 16, 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 742 in the week ending October 23, a decrease of 76 from the prior week. There were 407 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 79 from the preceding week.

There were 7,985 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending October 16, an increase of 273 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 5,428, an increase of 225 from the prior week.

During the week ending October 16, 42 states reported 277,109 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 45 states reported 233,684 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending October 16 were in Puerto Rico (4.2), California (2.9), Hawaii (2.8), Illinois (2.8), New Jersey (2.5), the Virgin Islands (2.5), Alaska (2.4), District of Columbia (2.3), Nevada (2.3), and Pennsylvania (2.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending October 23 were in District of Columbia (+3,875), Kentucky (+2,940), Missouri (+2,048), Florida (+1,307), and Oklahoma (+1,256), while the largest decreases were in California (-13,138), Georgia (-4,107), Michigan (-2,505), Pennsylvania (-1,245), and Tennessee (-794).