U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to 52-Year Low

In the week ending December 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 184,000, a decrease of 43,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since September 6, 1969 when it was 182,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 5,000 from 222,000 to 227,000. The 4-week moving average was 218,750, a decrease of 21,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 7, 2020 when it was 215,250. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 238,750 to 240,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent for the week ending November 27, an increase 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 27 was 1,992,000, an increase of 38,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 2,000 from 1,956,000 to 1,954,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,027,500, a decrease of 54,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 1,730,750. The previous week’s average was revised down by 2,500 from 2,084,250 to 2,081,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 280,665 in the week ending December 4, an increase of 63,680 (or 29.3 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 106,047 (or 48.9 percent) from the previous week. There were 946,661 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending December 4, 32 states reported 1,826 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent during the week ending November 27, an increase of 0.3 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,958,827, an increase of 397,591 (or 25.5 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 359,514 (or 23.0 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 4.0 percent and the volume was 5,790,579.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending November 20 was 1,947,598, a decrease of 350,527 from the previous week. There were 19,575,088 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending November 20, 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 860 in the week ending November 27, a decrease of 84 from the prior week. There were 275 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 116 from the preceding week.

There were 7,950 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending November 20, a decrease of 561 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 4,300, a decrease of 786 from the prior week.

During the week ending November 20, 42 states reported 124,536 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 42 states reported 112,728 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 20 were in Alaska (2.9), District of Columbia (2.8), New Jersey (2.3), Puerto Rico (2.3), California (2.1), Hawaii (1.8), Minnesota (1.8), Nevada (1.8), Illinois (1.7), and Massachusetts (1.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending November 27 were in North Carolina (+2,461), Wisconsin (+1,081), Ohio (+300), Connecticut (+251), and Idaho (+249), while the largest decreases were in Virginia (-6,548), California (-5,613), Texas (-5,447), Michigan (-2,640), and New Jersey (-2,371).