Initial Claims Fall to 52-Year Low

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to their lowest level in nearly 53 years, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

For the week ending March 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 187,000, a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since September 6, 1969, when it was 182,000. The four-week moving average fell to 211,750, a decrease of 11,500 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.0 percent for the week ending March 12. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 12 fell to 1,350,000, a decrease of 67,000 from the previous week’s revised figure to its lowest level since January 3, 1970, when it was 1,332,000. The four-week moving average fell to 1,431,500, a

decrease of 31,000 from the previous week’s revised average to its lowest level since February 28, 1970, when it was 1,421,000.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 181,087 in the week ending March 19, a decrease of 22,824 (11.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 5,080 (2.5 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 651,153 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.3 percent during the week ending March 12. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,730,622, a decrease of 73,688 (4.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 6,851 (0.4 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 3.0 percent; volume was 4,233,702.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending March 5 fell to 1,857,797, a decrease of 110,749 from the previous week. Labor reported 19,893,719 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.