U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims at 375K, Third Straight Decline

In the week ending August 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 375,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 385,000 to 387,000. The  4–week moving average was 396,250, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 394,000 to 394,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent for the week ending July 31, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised up by 0.1 from 2.1 to 2.2 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 31 was 2,866,000, a decrease of 114,000 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 50,000 from 2,930,000 to 2,980,000. The 4–week moving average was 3,101,000, a decrease of 99,750 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 12,500 from 3,188,250 to 3,200,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 320,517 in the week ending August 7, a decrease of 5,198 (or –1.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 6,690 (or 2.1 percent) from the previous week. There were 831,251 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending August 7, 45 states reported 104,572 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent during the week ending July 31, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 2,817,487, a decrease of 112,842 (or –3.9 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 959 (or 0.0 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 10.4 percent and the volume was 15,254,654.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending July 24 was 12,055,290, a decrease of 919,593 from the previous week. There were 28,957,778 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending July 24, 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 647 in the week ending July 31, a decrease of 56 from the prior week. There were 498 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 6 from the preceding week.

There were 9,273 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending July 24, a decrease of 866 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 6,177, a decrease of 714 from the prior week.

During the week ending July 24, 48 states reported 4,820,787 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 48 states reported 3,852,569 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending July 24 were in Puerto Rico (4.7), Illinois (3.8), New Jersey (3.6), California (3.5), New York (3.3), Connecticut (3.2), Rhode Island (3.2), District of Columbia (3.1), Louisiana (2.7), and Nevada (2.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 31 were in Indiana (+3,572), Georgia (+1,421), Rhode Island (+1,285), Alabama (+1,226), and Illinois (+1,160), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (–6,113), Texas (–3,745), Michigan (–3,060), Tennessee (–3,000), and Puerto Rico (–2,979).