U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fell for the First Time in Four Weeks

U.S. Department of Labor

In the week ending October 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 326,000, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 362,000 to 364,000. The 4-week moving average was 344,000, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 340,000 to 340,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending September 25, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised up by 0.1 from 2.0 to 2.1 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 25 was 2,714,000, a decrease of 97,000 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 9,000 from 2,802,000 to 2,811,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,765,000, a decrease of 34,500 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 2,250 from 2,797,250 to 2,799,500.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 258,909 in the week ending October 2, a decrease of 41,431 (or -13.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 3,711 (or -1.2 percent) from the previous week. There were 723,981 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending October 2, 42 states reported 23,453 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent during the week ending September 25, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 2,391,433, a decrease of 79,018 (or -3.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 17,918 (or 0.7 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 7.0 percent and the volume was 10,156,754.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending September 18 was 4,172,943, a decrease of 854,638 from the previous week. There were 24,609,335 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.
During the week ending September 18, 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 650 in the week ending September 25, a decrease of 108 from the prior week. There were 484 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 30 from the preceding week.

There were 8,375 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending September 18, a decrease of 106 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 5,569, a decrease of 82 from the prior week.

During the week ending September 18, 42 states reported 647,690 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 45 states reported 630,814 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending September 18 were in Puerto Rico (4.5), Illinois (4.2), California (3.1), Hawaii (3.0), New Jersey (2.9), Nevada (2.8), Alaska (2.7), Oregon (2.7), Louisiana (2.5), and New York (2.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 25 were in California (+9,907), Michigan (+6,115), Texas (+4,625), District of Columbia (+2,223), and Minnesota (+2,002), while the largest decreases were in Virginia
(-7,245), Maryland (-5,617), Arizona (-4,241), Louisiana (-3,160), and Ohio (-2,853).

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