U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest Level since 1969

In the week ending March 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 187,000, a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since September 6, 1969 when it was 182,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 214,000 to 215,000. The 4-week moving average was 211,750, a decrease of 11,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 223,000 to 223,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.0 percent for the week ending March 12, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 12 was 1,350,000, a decrease of 67,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since January 3, 1970 when it was 1,332,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 2,000 from 1,419,000 to 1,417,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,431,500, a decrease of 31,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since February 28, 1970 when it was 1,421,000. The previous week’s average was revised down by 500 from 1,463,000 to 1,462,500.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 181,087 in the week ending March 19, a decrease of 22,824 (or -11.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 5,080 (or 2.5 percent) from the previous week. There were 651,153 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.3 percent during the week ending March 12, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,730,622, a decrease of 73,688 (or -4.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 6,851 (or -0.4 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 3.0 percent and the volume was 4,233,702.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending March 5 was 1,857,797, a decrease of 110,749 from the previous week. There were 19,893,719 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.

During the week ending March 5, Extended Benefits were available in the following state: New Jersey.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 488 in the week ending March 12, a decrease of 77 from the prior week. There were 321 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 89 from the preceding week.

There were 9,624 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending March 5, a decrease of 1,076 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 4,258, a decrease of 425 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 5 were in California (2.5), New Jersey (2.4), Alaska (2.3), Illinois (2.3), Rhode Island (2.3), Massachusetts (2.2), Minnesota (2.2), New York (2.1), Connecticut (1.9), and Pennsylvania (1.8).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 12 were in Michigan (+2,068), Ohio (+1,547), California (+1,274), Missouri (+850), and Illinois (+665), while the largest decreases were in New York (-16,098), Massachusetts (-1,116), New Jersey (-1,046), Washington (-992), and District of Columbia (-945).