U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise to 744,000, More Layoffs Likely

In the week ending April 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 744,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 9,000 from 719,000 to 728,000. The 4–week moving average was 723,750, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 2,250 from 719,000 to 721,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending March 27, unchanged from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised down by 0.1 from 2.7 to 2.6 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 27 was 3,734,000, a decrease of 16,000 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 down by 44,000 from 3,794,000 to 3,750,000. The 4–week moving average was 3,862,000, a decrease of 105,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 10,750 from 3,978,500 to 3,967,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 740,787 in the week ending April 3, an increase of 18,172 (or 2.5 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 2,208 (or 0.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 6,161,308 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending April 3, 53 states reported 151,752 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.8 percent during the week ending March 27, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 4,031,531, a decrease of 67,664 (or –1.7 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 51,374 (or –1.3 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 5.6 percent and the volume was 8,158,208.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending March 20 was 18,164,588, a decrease of 50,862 from the previous week. There were 3,443,666 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending March 20, 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 1,181 in the week ending March 27, an increase of 21 from the prior week. There were 558 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 16 from the preceding week.

There were 17,125 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending March 20, a decrease of 1,342 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 7,985, an increase of 10 from the prior week.

During the week ending March 20, 50 states reported 7,553,628 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 5,633,595 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 20 were in Puerto Rico (6.0), the Virgin Islands (5.6), Nevada (5.3), Alaska (5.0), Pennsylvania (5.0), Connecticut (4.6), New York (4.1), Rhode Island (3.9), Illinois (3.8), and California (3.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 27 were in Kentucky (+16,100), Georgia (+14,493), Virginia (+10,684), California (+10,408), and New York (+8,557), while the largest decreases were in Ohio (–14,879), Massachusetts (–12,001), Indiana (–3,785), Florida (–1,633), and Michigan (–1,622).