U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall amid Tight Labor Market

In the week ending February 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 232,000, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 248,000 to 249,000. The 4-week moving average was 236,250, a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 243,250 to 243,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent for the week ending February 12, unchanged from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised down by 0.1 from 1.2 to 1.1 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 12 was 1,476,000, a decrease of 112,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 14, 1970 when it was 1,456,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 5,000 from 1,593,000 to 1,588,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,576,000, a decrease of 49,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since June 30, 1973 when it was 1,570,000. The previous week’s average was revised down by 1,250 from 1,626,250 to 1,625,000

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 214,873 in the week ending February 19, a decrease of 24,824 (or -10.4 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 7,928 (or -3.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 716,559 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.4 percent during the week ending February 12, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,912,532, a decrease of 57,726 (or -2.9 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 54,377 (or 2.8 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 3.4 percent and the volume was 4,828,682.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending February 5 was 2,032,667, a decrease of 30,906 from the previous week. There were 19,883,148 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.

During the week ending February 5, 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 1,612 in the week ending February 12, an increase of 988 from the prior week. There were 370 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 2 from the preceding week.

There were 10,532 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending February 5, a decrease of 367 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 4,826, an increase of 234 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 5 were in California (2.7), Alaska (2.6), Illinois (2.5), Minnesota (2.5), New Jersey (2.5), Rhode Island (2.4), the Virgin Islands (2.4), Massachusetts (2.3), New York (2.3), and Montana (2.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 12 were in Missouri (+7,253), Ohio (+5,392), Kentucky (+4,555), Tennessee (+1,737), and Illinois (+1,488), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-1,688), California (-1,618), Wisconsin (-1,034), New Jersey (-941), and Connecticut (-747).