Initial Claims at 8-Month High

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose again last week to their highest level since November, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

For the week ending August 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims rose to 262,000, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average rose to 252,000, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.0 percent for the week ending July 30. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 30 rose to 1,428,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average rose to 1,399,250, an increase of 23,750 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 203,619 in the week ending August 6, an increase of 7,521 (3.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 3,223 (-1.6 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 323,043 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.0 percent during the week ending July 30. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,454,623, an increase of 623 (0.0 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 7,100 (-0.5 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.1 percent; volume was 2,850,382.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending July 23 was 1,478,780, an increase of 9,206 from the previous week. Labor reported 12,055,317 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.