U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise to 373K, Job Growth Slows

In the week ending July 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 373,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 7,000 from 364,000 to 371,000. The 4–week moving average was 394,500, a decrease of 250 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 2,000 from 392,750 to 394,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending June 26, 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 June 26was 3,339,000, a decrease of 145,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 21, 2020 when it was 3,094,000. The previous week’s level was revised up 15,000 from 3,469,000 to 3,484,000. The 4–week moving average was 3,440,750, a decrease of 44,500 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 3,500 from 3,481,750 to 3,485,250.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 369,661 in the week ending July 3, an increase of 3,147 (or 0.9 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 1,582 (or 0.4 percent) from the previous week. There were 1,391,178 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending July 3, 47 states reported 99,001 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent during the week ending June 26, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 3,236,197, a decrease of 49,110 (or –1.5 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 95,409 (or 2.9 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 11.4 percent and the volume was 16,611,272.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending June 19 was 14,209,007, a decrease of 449,642 from the previous week. There were 33,228,122 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending June 19, Extended Benefits were available in the following 11 states: Alaska, California, 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 877 in the week ending June 26, an increase of 3 from the prior week. There were 577 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 122 from the preceding week.

There were 10,426 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending June 19, a decrease of 41 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 6,619, an increase of 416 from the prior week.

During the week ending June 19, 50 states reported 5,824,831 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 50 states reported 4,908,107 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending June 19 were in Rhode Island (4.6), Puerto Rico (4.5), Nevada (4.4), California (4.0), Connecticut (3.8), Illinois (3.6), Georgia (3.4), New Jersey (3.4), New York (3.4), Alaska (3.2), and District of Columbia (3.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 26 were in Puerto Rico (+4,098), New Jersey (+3,381), Massachusetts (+2,845), New York (+1,857), and Connecticut (+1,516), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-17,664), Kentucky (-7,878), California (-7,643), Texas (-3,998), and Michigan (-2,880).