U.S. Jobless Claims Hit All-Time Pandemic Low, Employers Retain Workers

In the week ending September 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 310,000, a decrease of 35,000 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 5,000 from 340,000 to 345,000. The 4–week moving average was 339,500, a decrease of 16,750 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 1,250 from 355,000 to 356,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending August 28, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 28 was 2,783,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previousweek’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 14, 2020 when it was 1,770,000. The previous week’s level was revised up 57,000 from 2,748,000 to 2,805,000. The 4–week moving average was 2,840,250, a decrease of 29,000 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 14,250 from 2,855,000 to 2,869,250.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 284,287 in the week ending September 4, a decrease of 8,005 (or –2.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 26,906 (or 9.2 percent) from the previous week. There were 857,896 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending September 4, 44 states reported 96,198 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent during the week ending August 28, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 2,600,083, a decrease of 74,670 (or –2.8 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 52,914 (or –2.0 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 9.1 percent and the volume was 13,325,972.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending August 21 was
11,930,415, a decrease of 255,757 from the previous week. There were 30,427,090 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending August 21, Extended Benefits were available in the following 10 states: Alaska,California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Texas.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 542 in the week ending August 28, a decrease of 76 from the prior week. There were 488 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 45 from the preceding week.

There were 8,298 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending August 21, a decrease of 679 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 5,987, a decrease of 37 from the prior week.

During the week ending August 21, 47 states reported 5,090,524 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 47 states reported 3,807,646 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 21 were in Puerto Rico (4.8), District of Columbia (4.0), New Jersey (3.6), California (3.4), Illinois (3.3), New York (3.0), Rhode Island (3.0), Connecticut (2.9), Hawaii (2.6), and the Virgin Islands (2.6).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 28 were in Missouri (+7,182), Ohio (+5,563), New York (+3,776), Tennessee (+1,854), and Florida (+1,723), while the largest decreases were in California (–7,009), Illinois (–6,712), Virginia (–4,146), New Jersey (–2,496), and Oregon (–1,686).