In the week ending August 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 353,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 348,000 to 349,000. The 4–week moving average was 366,500, a decrease of 11,500 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 250 from 377,750 to 378,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent for the week ending August 14, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 14 was 2,862,000, a decrease of 3,000 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 45,000 from 2,820,000 to 2,865,000. The 4–week moving average was 2,901,500, a decrease of 108,500 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 11,250 from 2,998,750 to 3,010,000.
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 297,765 in the week ending August 21, a decrease of 11,699 (or –3.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 15,864 (or –5.1 percent) from the previous week. There were 814,639 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending August 21, 43 states reported 117,709 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent during the week ending August 14, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 2,763,176, a decrease of 44,930 (or –1.6 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 42,151 (or –1.5 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 9.5 percent and the volume was 13,839,980.
The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending August 7 was 12,007,632, an increase of 182,165 from the previous week. There were 27,476,415 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.
During the week ending August 7, Extended Benefits were available in the following 10 states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Texas.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 592 in the week ending August 14, a decrease of 77 from the prior week. There were 562 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 63 from the preceding week.
There were 9,355 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending August 7, a decrease of 123 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 5,963, an increase of 28 from the prior week.
During the week ending August 7, 46 states reported 5,004,753 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 47 states reported 3,793,956 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 7 were in Puerto Rico (4.9), Illinois (3.7), New Jersey (3.7), California (3.4), District of Columbia (3.2), Connecticut (3.1), New York (3.1), Rhode Island (3.0), Nevada (2.7), and the Virgin Islands (2.7).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 14 were in Virginia (+6,367), New Mexico (+2,872), District of Columbia (+757), Georgia (+374), and Nevada (+288), while the largest decreases were in Texas (–7,667), Illinois (–3,023), Kentucky (–2,236), Michigan (–2,026), and Massachusetts (–1,146).
