U.S. Jobless Claims Hit Pandemic Low, Employment Strengthening

In the week ending August 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 340,000, a decrease of 14,000 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 1,000 from 353,000 to 354,000. The 4–week moving average was 355,000, a decrease of 11,750 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 250 from 366,500 to 366,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending August 21, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 21 was 2,748,000, a decrease of 160,000 from the previous week’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 46,000 from 2,862,000 to 2,908,000. The 4–week moving average was 2,855,000, a decrease of 58,000 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 11,500 from 2,901,500 to 2,913,000.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 287,751 in the week ending August 28, a decrease of 11,040 (or –3.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 2,793 (or 0.9 percent) from the previous week. There were 827,261 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending August 28, 44 states reported 102,405 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent during the week ending August 21, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 2,617,062, a decrease of 192,687 (or –6.9 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 31,769 (or –1.1 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 9.0 percent and the volume was 13,111,418.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending August 14 was 12,186,158, an increase of 178,526 from the previous week. There were 29,747,649 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending August 14, 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 618 in the week ending August 21, an Increase of 26 from the prior week. There were 533 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 29 from the preceding week.

There were 8,977 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending August 14, a decrease of 378 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 6,024, an increase of 61 from the prior week.

During the week ending August 14, 47 states reported 5,413,238 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 47 states reported 3,800,000 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 14 were in Puerto Rico (4.8), California (4.0), District of Columbia (3.6), New Jersey (3.5), Illinois (3.4), Rhode Island (3.1), Connecticut (3.0), New York (3.0), the Virgin Islands (2.7), and Nevada (2.6).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 21 were in Illinois (+3,832), Florida (+2,545), Maryland (+1,723), Oregon (+1,377), and New Jersey (+837), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (–6,757), Virginia (–4,670), Texas (–3,040), Ohio (–1,515), and Georgia (–1,407).