U.S. Jobless Claims Fall After Hitting Two-Month High

n the week ending July 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 400,000, a decrease of 24,000
from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 5,000 from 419,000 to 424,000. The
4–week moving average was 394,500, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous
week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 385,250 to 386,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending July 17, unchanged
from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the
week ending July 17 was 3,269,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s
level was revised up 26,000 from 3,236,000 to 3,262,000. The 4–week moving average was 3,290,750, a decrease of
53,750 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 6,500 from 3,338,000 to 3,344,500.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 344,653 in the week ending July
24, a decrease of 66,591 (or –16.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of
41,806 (or –10.2 percent) from the previous week. There were 1,202,278 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020.
In addition, for the week ending July 24, 45 states reported 95,166 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent during the week ending July 17, unchanged from the
prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 3,247,071, a decrease of
28,428 (or –0.9 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 35,837 (or –1.1
percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 11.6 percent and the volume was 16,882,632.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending July 10 was 13,156,252,
an increase of 582,403 from the previous week. There were 31,898,353 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs
in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending July 10, Extended Benefits were available in the following 12 states: Alaska, California,
Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island,
and Texas.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,080 in the week ending July 17, an
increase of 207 from the prior week. There were 661 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 90
from the preceding week.

There were 10,568 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending July 10, an
increase of 681 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 6,758, an increase of 855
from the prior week.

During the week ending July 10, 47 states reported 5,246,162 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance benefits and 46 states reported 4,233,883 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment
Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending July 10 were in Puerto Rico (5.2), California (4.4), Nevada
(4.3), New Jersey (3.8), Rhode Island (3.8), Illinois (3.7), New York (3.5), Pennsylvania (3.5), Connecticut (3.4), and
District of Columbia (3.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 17 were in Michigan (+13,547), Texas (+10,730),
Kentucky (+8,945), Missouri (+6,056), and Illinois (+3,915), while the largest decreases were in New York (–10,727),
Puerto Rico (–3,904), Tennessee (–3,510), Oklahoma (–3,393), and Georgia (–1,870).