U.S. Jobless Claims Fell to 364K, New Pandemic Low

In the week ending June 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 364,000, a decrease of 51,000 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 4,000 from 411,000 to 415,000. The 4–week moving average was 392,750, a decrease of 6,000 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 1,000 from 397,750 to 398,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent for the week ending June 19, unchanged from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised up by 0.1 from 2.4 to 2.5 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 19 was 3,469,000, an increase of 56,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 23,000 from 3,390,000 to 3,413,000. The 4–week moving average was 3,481,750, a decrease of 75,000 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 4,250 from 3,552,500 to 3,556,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 359,130 in the week ending June 26, a decrease of 38,262 (or –9.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 12,709 (or 3.2 percent) from the previous week. There were 1,426,894 initial claims in the comparable week in2020. In addition, for the week ending June 26, 49 states reported 115,267 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent during the week ending June 19, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 3,270,789, an increase of 37,470 (or 1.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 19,032 (or –0.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 12.0 percent and the volume was 17,518,656.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending June 12 was 14,659,791, a decrease of 180,890 from the previous week. There were 32,118,436 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020. D

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

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 879 in the week ending June 19, a decrease of 26 from the prior week. There were 581 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 12 from the preceding week.

There were 10,472 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending June 12, a decrease of 292 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 6,207, a decrease of 346 from the prior week.

During the week ending June 12, 50 states reported 5,935,630 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 50 states reported 5,261,991 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending June 12 were in Rhode Island (5.1), Nevada (4.4), Puerto Rico (3.9), Connecticut (3.8), California (3.6), Illinois (3.6), Alaska (3.4), New York (3.4), Pennsylvania (3.3), and District of Columbia (3.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 19 were in Pennsylvania (+14,715), Michigan (+1,862), and Texas (+1,814), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (–4,762), California (–4,112), Ohio (–2,955), Florida (–2,229), and Georgia (–1,826).