U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Edge Up

In the week ending February 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 248,000, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 223,000 to 225,000. The 4-week moving average was 243,250, a decrease of 10,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 253,250 to 253,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending February 5, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 5 was 1,593,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 2,000 from 1,621,000 to 1,619,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,626,250, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 500 from 1,634,500 to 1,634,000.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 238,482 in the week ending February 12, an increase of 7,742 (or 3.4 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 14,676 (or -6.4 percent) from the previous week. There were 835,045 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.4 percent during the week ending February 5, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,975,407, a decrease of 24,033 (or -1.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 1,997 (or 0.1 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 3.5 percent and the volume was 4,971,328.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending January 29 was 2,063,567, a decrease of 36,295 from the previous week. There were 18,906,377 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.

During the week ending January 29, Extended Benefits were available in the following 2 states: New Jersey, and New Mexico.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 624 in the week ending February 5, a decrease of 27 from the prior week. There were 372 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 33 from the preceding week.

There were 10,899 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending January 29, an increase of 371 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 4,592, a decrease of 496 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending January 29 were in Alaska (2.7), California (2.7), New Jersey (2.6), Minnesota (2.5), Rhode Island (2.4), Massachusetts (2.3), New York (2.3), and Illinois (2.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 5 were in Michigan (+2,884), New Jersey (+406), Kansas (+309), Delaware (+235), and Maryland (+148), while the largest decreases were in California (-4,247), Kentucky (-3,962), Tennessee (-2,916), Illinois (-2,303), and Indiana (-1,760).