U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Jump despite Easing Restrictions

In the week ending March 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 770,000, an increase of 45,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 13,000 from 712,000 to 725,000. The 4-week moving average was 746,250, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 3,250 from 759,000 to 762,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.0 percent for the week ending March 6, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 6 was 4,124,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 2,000 from 4,144,000 to 4,142,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,255,500, a decrease of 99,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 500 from 4,355,000 to 4,354,500.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 746,496 in the week ending March 13, an increase of 24,318 (or 3.4 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 20,961 (or -2.9 percent) from the previous week. There were 251,416 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending March 13, 53 states reported 282,394 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.2 percent during the week ending March 6, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 4,486,389, a decrease of 95,541 (or -2.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 77,947 (or -1.7 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.4 percent and the volume was 1,977,272.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending February 27 was 18,216,463, a decrease of 1,902,005 from the previous week. There were 2,087,219 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending February 27, Extended Benefits were available in the following 17 states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, and the Virgin Islands.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,286 in the week ending March 6, a decrease of 98 from the prior week. There were 699 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 29 from the preceding week.

There were 19,647 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending February 27, a decrease of 290 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 8,271, a decrease of 269 from the prior week.

During the week ending February 27, 51 states reported 7,615,386 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 4,815,348 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 27 were in Pennsylvania (6.1), Alaska (5.6), Nevada (5.4), the Virgin Islands (5.1), Connecticut (5.0), New York (4.7), Rhode Island (4.5), Illinois (4.4), Massachusetts (4.4), and California (4.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 6 were in California (+17,793), Ohio (+7,686), Massachusetts (+2,200), Alabama (+1,968), and Virginia (+1,581), while the largest decreases were in New York (-11,906), Illinois (-10,628), Mississippi (-10,549), Texas (-6,932), and Kentucky (-4,580).