Weekly Jobless Claims Less Than Expected, Job Market Is Coming Back

In the week ending November 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 222,000, an increase of 28,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 5,000 from 199,000 to 194,000. The 4-week moving average was 238,750, a decrease of 12,250 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 down by 1,250 from 252,250 to 251,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.4 percent for the week ending November 20, 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 November 20 was 1,956,000, a decrease of 107,000 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 up 14,000 from 2,049,000 to 2,063,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,084,250, a decrease of 36,250 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 up by 3,500 from 2,117,000 to 2,120,500.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 211,896 in the week ending November 27, a decrease of 41,622 (or -16.4 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 69,304 (or -27.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 711,416 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending November 27, 31 states reported 1,406 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent during the week ending November 20, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,563,000, a decrease of 265,775 (or -14.5 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 157,942 (or -8.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 3.6 percent and the volume was 5,233,689.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending November 13 was 2,306,353, an increase of 21,564 from the previous week. There were 20,756,040 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending November 13, 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 947 in the week ending November 20, a decrease of 63 from the prior week. There were 392 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 1 from the preceding week.

There were 8,495 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending November 13, an increase of 641 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 5,101, an increase of 264 from the prior week.

During the week ending November 13, 42 states reported 170,300 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 42 states reported 146,449 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 13 were in Puerto Rico (3.7), District of Columbia (3.5), the Virgin Islands (3.3), Alaska (2.8), California (2.7), New Jersey (2.4), Hawaii (2.3), Illinois (2.3), Nevada (2.0), and Pennsylvania (2.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending November 20 were in Virginia (+12,703), New Jersey (+2,061), Michigan (+1,926), Oklahoma (+1,490), and Minnesota (+1,465), while the largest decreases were in California (-7,233), Kentucky (-3,910), District of Columbia (-1,679), Missouri (-1,519), and Massachusetts (-1,410).