U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to New Low since Pandemic Began

In the week ending October 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 290,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 3,000 from 293,000 to 296,000. The 4-week moving average was 319,750, a decrease of 15,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week’s average was revised up by 750 from 334,250 to 335,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent for the week ending October 9, 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 October 9 was 2,481,000, a decrease of 122,000 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 10,000 from 2,593,000 to 2,603,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,655,500, a decrease of 84,750 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 2,500 from 2,737,750 to 2,740,250.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 256,304 in the week ending October 16, a decrease of 24,293 (or -8.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 18,500 (or -6.6 percent) from the previous week. There were 759,081 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending October 16, 35 states reported 2,338 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent during the week ending October 9, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 2,169,457, a decrease of 93,319 (or -4.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 28,025 (or 1.2 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 5.5 percent and the volume was 8,079,362.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending October 2 was 3,279,036, a decrease of 369,992 from the previous week. There were 23,755,845 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending October 2, Extended Benefits were available in the following 4 states: Alaska, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New Mexico.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 913 in the week ending October 9, an increase of 171 from the prior week. There were 613 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 146 from the preceding week.

There were 7,682 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending October 2, a decrease of 797 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 5,453, a decrease of 120 from the prior week.

During the week ending October 2, 43 states reported 517,949 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 45 states reported 331,567 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending October 2 were in Puerto Rico (4.3), Illinois (3.5), California (3.3), District of Columbia (3.0), Hawaii (3.0), New Jersey (2.7), Nevada (2.6), Alaska (2.4), Pennsylvania (2.3), and New York (2.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending October 9 were in Michigan (+3,673), Missouri (+2,566), Maryland (+2,337), New Mexico (+2,012), and Kentucky (+1,454), while the largest decreases were in Tennessee (-989), California (-851), Florida (-839), New Jersey (-464), and Alabama (-301).