U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Still More Than 800K; Last Week Revised Up Sharply

In the week ending February 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 861,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previousweek’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 55,000 from 793,000 to 848,000. The 4-week moving average was 833,250, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 13,750 from 823,000 to 836,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment ratewas 3.2 percent for the week ending February 6, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemploymentduring the week ending February 6 was 4,494,000, a decrease of 64,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 13,000 from 4,545,000 to 4,558,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,632,000, a decrease of 120,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 3,500 from 4,748,750 to 4,752,250.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 862,351 in the week ending February 13, a decrease of 5,702 (or -0.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 18,432 (or -2.1 percent) from the previous week. There were 209,336 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending February 13, 50 states reported 516,299 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent during the week ending February 6, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 4,945,014, a decrease of 93,576 (or -1.9 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 29,048 (or -0.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.4 percent and the volume was 2,099,073.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending January 30 was 18,340,161, a decrease of 1,325,567 from the previous week. There were 2,118,115 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.

During the week ending January 30, Extended Benefits were available in the following 20 states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, the Virgin Islands, and Washington.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,660 in the week ending February 6, a decrease of 3,330 from the prior week. There were 934 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 122 from the preceding week.

There were 19,429 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending January 30, an increase of 258 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 8,329, a decrease of 842 from the prior week.

During the week ending January 30, 51 states reported 7,685,389 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 4,061,305 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending January 30 were in the Virgin Islands (6.6), Alaska (6.4), Pennsylvania (6.4), Rhode Island (6.1), Nevada (6.0), Connecticut (5.3), Illinois (5.1), New York (5.1), New Mexico (5.0), and Massachusetts (4.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 6 were in Ohio (+92,667), California (+28,688), Georgia (+5,171), Mississippi (+3,796), and Colorado (+3,045), while the largest decreases were in Florida (-47,430), New York (-17,407), Maryland (-16,585), Kansas (-12,376), and Arizona (-7,478).