In the week ending March 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 214,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 227,000 to 229,000. The 4-week moving average was 223,000, a decrease of 8,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 231,250 to 231,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.0 percent for the week ending March 5, 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 March 5 was 1,419,000, a decrease of 71,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since February 21, 1970 when it was 1,412,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 4,000 from 1,494,000 to 1,490,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,463,000, a decrease of 42,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 21, 1970 when it was 1,456,750. The previous week’s average was revised down by 1,000 from 1,506,500 to 1,505,500.
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 202,894 in the week ending March 12, a decrease of 16,981 (or -7.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 1,486 (or -0.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 757,202 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.3 percent during the week ending March 5, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,805,752, a decrease of 106,417 (or -5.6 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 35,141 (or -1.8 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 3.2 percent and the volume was 4,495,885.
The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending February 26 was 1,968,544, an increase of 59,516 from the previous week. There were 18,946,509 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021. During the week ending February 26, Extended Benefits were available in the following state: New Jersey.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 565 in the week ending March 5, an increase of 135 from the prior week. There were 410 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 134 from the preceding week. There were 10,700 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilia n employees the week ending February 26, an increase of 737 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 4,683, an increase of 25 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 26 were in Rhode Island (2.7), California (2.6), Alaska (2.4), New Jersey (2.4), Massachusetts (2.3), Minnesota (2.3), New York (2.3), Illinois (2.1), Connecticut (2.0), Georgia (1.9) and Montana (1.9).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 5 were in New York (+16,157), California (+5,470), Kentucky (+3,148), New Jersey (+2,381), and Ohio (+1,117), while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts (-2,315), Pennsylvania (-2,130), Missouri (-1,378), Tennessee (-1,356), and Rhode Island (-1,224).
