Initial Claims Show Flattening Pattern

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose slightly last week and haven’t shown much movement for several months now as employers continue to have difficulty filling jobs, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

For the week ending May 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims rose to 203,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week, which revised up by 2,000 from 200,000 to 202,000. The four-week moving average rose to 192,750, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.0 percent for the week ending April 30. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 30 fell to 1,343,000, a decrease of 44,000 from the previous week to its lowest level since January 3, 1970, when it was 1,332,000. The previous week’s level revised up 3,000 from 1,384,000 to 1,387,000. The four-week moving average fell to 1,385,000, a decrease of 32,750 from the previous week to its lowest level since January 31, 1970, when it was 1,374,250.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 191,803 in the week ending May 7, a decrease of 6,554 (3.3 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 8,071 (4.1 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 488,815 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.0 percent during the week ending April 30. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 1,335,108, a decrease of 70,837 (5.0 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 27,731 (2.0 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.6 percent; volume was 3,688,043.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 23 fell to 1,440,324, a decrease of 38,030 from the previous week. Labor reported 16,848,931 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.