U.S. Jobless Claims Fall to Another Pandemic Low

In the week ending May 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 473,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 9,000 from 498,000 to 507,000. The 4–week moving average was 534,000, a decrease of 28,250 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 up by 2,250 from 560,000 to 562,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending May 1, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised up by 0.1 from 2.6 to 2.7 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 1 was 3,655,000, a decrease of 45,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 10,000 from 3,690,000 to 3,700,000. The 4–week moving average was 3,665,000, a decrease of 13,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 28, 2020 when it was 3,611,750. The previous week’s average was revised up by 2,500 from 3,675,750 to 3,678,250.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 487,436 in the week ending May 8, a decrease of 26,286 (or –5.1 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 7,909 (or 1.5 percent) from the previous week. There were 2,326,632 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending May 8, 52 states reported 103,571 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7 percent during the week ending May 1, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 3,709,566, a decrease of 86,659 (or –2.3 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 41,615 (or –1.1 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 14.3 percent and the volume was 20,855,301.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending April 24 was 16,855,264, an increase of 696,152 from the previous week. There were 21,863,056 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending April 24, Extended Benefits were available in the following 15 states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and the Virgin Islands.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 927 in the week ending May 1, a decrease of 47 from the prior week. There were 526 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 45 from the preceding week.

There were 14,544 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending April 24, a decrease of 137 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 7,287, a decrease of 315 from the prior week.

During the week ending April 24, 51 states reported 7,283,703 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 5,265,193 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 24 were in Nevada (6.4), Connecticut (4.9), Rhode Island (4.6), Alaska (4.5), Vermont (4.5), Illinois (4.4), Puerto Rico (4.4), New York (4.2), Pennsylvania (4.0), and District of Columbia (3.6).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 1 were in Kentucky (+4,714),New Jersey (+2,002), Delaware (+1,294), Vermont (+1,142), and Puerto Rico (+824), while the largest decreases were in Virginia (–25,125), New York (–9,533), Florida (–8,252), California (–7,840), and Oklahoma (–6,392).