U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rise after Hitting the Lowest Level since 1968

In the week ending April 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 185,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 166,000 to 167,000. The 4-week moving average was 172,250, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 170,000 to 170,250.The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent for the week ending April 2, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 2 was 1,475,000, a decrease of 48,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 1,523,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,511,500, a decrease of 29,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 1,541,250.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 222,545 in the week ending April 9, an increase of 28,151 (or 14.5 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 6,692 (or 3.4 percent) from the previous week. There were 620,420 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent during the week ending April 2, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,571,118, a decrease of 80,061 (or -4.8 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 28,941 (or -1.8 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.8 percent and the volume was 3,902,729.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending March 26 was 1,703,298, a decrease of 19,733 from the previous week. There were 17,005,545 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.

During the week ending March 26, Extended Benefits were available in the following state: New Jersey.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 522 in the week ending April 2, an increase of 33 from the prior week. There were 395 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 57 from the preceding week.

There were 9,349 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending March 26, an increase of 572 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 4,504, an increase of 173 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 26 were in California (2.4), New Jersey (2.3), Alaska (2.1), Minnesota (2.0), Massachusetts (1.9), Rhode Island (1.9), New York (1.8), Georgia (1.7), Illinois (1.7), and Puerto Rico (1.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 2 were in Ohio (+1,509), Pennsylvania (+1,478), California (+1,082), Illinois (+509), and Florida (+466), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-2,491), Texas (-2,487), New Jersey (-1,105), Kentucky (-1,046), and New York (-866).