1.9M Jobless Claims Last Week As Economy Begins to Reopen

U.S. Department of Labor

In the week ending May 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 1,877,000, a decrease of 249,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 3,000 from 2,123,000 to 2,126,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,284,000, a decrease of 324,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 750 from 2,608,000 to 2,608,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 14.8 percent for the week ending May 23, an increase of 0.5 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised down by 0.2 from 14.5 to 14.3 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 23 was 21,487,000, an increase of 649,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 214,000 from 21,052,000 to 20,838,000. The 4-week moving average was 22,446,250, a decrease of 222,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 53,500 from 22,722,250 to 22,668,750.

UNADJUSTED

advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 1,603,000 in the week ending May 30, a decrease of 314,604 (or -16.4 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 102,045 (or -5.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 189,577 initial claims in the comparable week in 2019. In addition, for the week ending May 30, 36 states reported 623,073 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 13.2 percent during the week ending May 23, an increase of 0.3 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 19,295,200, an increase of 437,072 (or 2.3 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 145,864 (or -0.8 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.1 percent and the volume was 1,521,741.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending May 16 was 29,965,415, a decrease of 991,744 from the previous week. There were 1,534,449 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2019.

Extended Benefits were available in 22 states during the week ending May 16. Those states included Alaska, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,053 in the week ending May 23, an increase of 229 from the prior week. There were 1,414 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 201 from the preceding week.

There were 14,856 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 16, a decrease of1,756 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 11,401, a decrease of 2,888 from the prior week.

During the week ending May 16, 35 states reported 10,740,918 individuals claiming Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 28 states reported 209,692 individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 16 were in Nevada (24.9), Maine (22.9), Michigan (22.9), Puerto Rico (22.7), Hawaii (20.6), New York (19.2), Rhode Island (18.6), Washington (17.7), Louisiana (17.4), and New Hampshire (16.8).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 23 were in Maine (+11,941), Oklahoma (+10,274), Michigan (+7,859), Kentucky (+6,417), and Oregon (+4,913), while the largest decreases were in Washington (-90,683), Florida (-49,993), California (-41,169), New York (-34,875), and Illinois (-14,517).

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