U.S. Jobless Claims Down, Pace for Layoffs Eases

In the week ending March 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 712,000, a decrease of 42,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 9,000 from 745,000 to 754,000. The 4-week moving average was 759,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 2,250 from 790,750 to 793,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.9 percent for the week ending February 27, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised up by 0.1 from 3. to 3.1 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 27 was 4,144,000, a decrease of 193,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 42,000 from 4,295,000 to 4,337,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,355,000, a decrease of 103,500 from the previous week’s revised average.The previous week’s average was revised up by 10,500 from 4,448,000 to 4,458,500.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 709,458 in the week ending March 6, a decrease of 47,170 (or -6.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 5,529 (or -0.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 200,382 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending March 6, 53 states reported 478,001 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.2 percent during the week ending February 27, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 4,584,706, a decrease of 263,642 (or -5.4 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 70,936 (or -1.5 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.4 percent and the volume was 2,057,280.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending February 20 was 20,116,302, an increase of 2,087,376 from the previous week. There were 2,136,741 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending February 20, Extended Benefits were available in the following 18 states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, the Virgin Islands, and Washington.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,384 in the week ending February 27, an increase of 178 from the prior week. There were 728 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 109 from the preceding week.

There were 19,937 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending February 20, an increase of 506 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 8,540, a decrease of 146 from the prior week.

During the week ending February 20, 51 states reported 8,387,194 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 5,454,740 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 20 were in Pennsylvania (6.2), Alaska (5.9), Nevada (5.5), Connecticut (5.4), Massachusetts (5.1), New York (4.9), Rhode Island (4.9), the Virgin Islands (4.7), California (4.5), and Illinois (4.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 27were in Texas (+19,897), Ohio (+18,644), New York (+12,316), Mississippi (+8,324), and West Virginia (+4,998), while the largest decreases were in Missouri (-9,878), Wisconsin (-2,940), Michigan (-2,879), Rhode Island (-2,473), and Minnesota (-2,003).