U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise as COVID-19 Recovery Continues

In the week ending March 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 719,000, an increase of 61,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 26,000 from 684,000 to 658,000. The 4–week moving average was 719,000, a decrease of 10,500 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 down by 6,500 from 736,000 to 729,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7 percent for the week ending March 20, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 20 was 3,794,000, a decrease of 46,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 30,000 from 3,870,000 to 3,840,000. The 4–week moving average was 3,978,500, a decrease of 147,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 5,000 from 4,120,750 to 4,125,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 714,433 in the week ending March 27, an increase of 63,282 (or 9.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 2,177 (or 0.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 5,981,787 initial claims in the comparable week in2020. In addition, for the week ending March 27, 52 states reported 237,025 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.9 percent during the week ending March 20, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 4,142,940, a decrease of 90,696 (or –2.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 43,813 (or –1.0 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.3 percent and the volume was 3,412,516.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending March 13 was 18,213,575, a decrease of 1,517,926 from the previous week. There were 2,102,852 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending March 13, Extended Benefits were available in the following 16 states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, 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 1,160 in the week ending March 20, a decrease of 88 from the prior week. There were 574 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 163 from the preceding week.

There were 18,467 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending March 13, a decrease of 607 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 7,975, a decrease of 663 from the prior week.

During the week ending March 13, 50 states reported 7,349,663 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 5,515,355 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 13 were in Pennsylvania (5.5), Nevada (5.4), Alaska (5.0), Puerto Rico (4.9), Connecticut (4.7), New York (4.4), California (4.0), Rhode Island (4.0), the Virgin Islands (4.0), and Illinois (3.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 20 were in Massachusetts (+11,386), Texas (+7,599), Connecticut (+4,170), Maryland (+2,605), and Virginia (+2,035), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (–55,580), Ohio (–45,808), California (–13,331), New York (–4,251), and Florida (–2,991).