U.S. Jobless Claims Fall Slightly, as New Year Begins

In the week ending January 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 787,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 3,000 from 787,000 to 790,000. The 4-week moving average was 818,750, a decrease of 18,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 750 from 836,750 to 837,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending December 26, unchanged from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised down by 0.1 from 3.6 to 3.5 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 26 was 5,072,000, a decrease of 126,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 21,000 from 5,219,000 to 5,198,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,274,750, a decrease of 177,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 5,250 from 5,457,250 to 5,452,000.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 922,072 in the week ending January 2, an increase of 77,400 (or 9.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 81,127 (or 9.6 percent) from the previous week. There were 335,480 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending January 2, 45 states reported 161,460 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.7 percent during the week ending December 26, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 5,382,459, an increase of 145,444 (or 2.8 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 271,437 (or 5.2 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.5 percent and the volume was 2,147,170.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending December 19 was 19,176,857, a decrease of 419,228 from the previous week. There were 1,803,796 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2019.

During the week ending December 19, Extended Benefits were available in the following 24 states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, the Virgin Islands, and Washington.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,772 in the week ending December 26, an increase of 103 from the prior week. There were 735 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 119 from the preceding week.

There were 16,772 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending December 19, a decrease of 236 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 9,094, a decrease of 815 from the prior week.

During the week ending December 19, 51 states reported 8,383,387 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 4,516,900 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 19 were in Puerto Rico (7.8), Alaska (6.4), California (6.0), Kansas (5.9), Nevada (5.6), Illinois (5.5), New Mexico (5.5), Pennsylvania (5.2), Washington (5.1), and District of Columbia (4.6).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 26 were in New York (+10,318), California (+10,071), Kentucky (+4,341), Missouri (+4,105), and New Jersey (+2,851), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-34,568), Pennsylvania (-9,026), Georgia (-7,713), Kansas (-3,710), and Texas (-3,531).