Initial Claims Drop by 8,000

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell for the first time in three weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

For the week ending May 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 210,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 218,000. The four-week moving average rose to 206,750, an increase of 7,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 199,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate rose to 1.0 percent for the week ending May 14, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 14 rose to 1,346,000, an increase of 31,000 from the previous week, which revised down by 2,000 from 1,317,000 to 1,315,000. The four-week moving average fell to 1,347,500, a decrease of 14,250 from the previous week to its lowest level since January 17, 1970, when it was 1,340,000.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 183,927 in the week ending May 21, a decrease of 14,534 (7.3 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 7,616 (or -3.8 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 416,310 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 0.9 percent during the week ending May 14. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,293,442, an increase of 9,992 (0.8 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 19,725 (1.5 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.5 percent; volume was 3,502,467.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending May 7 fell to 1,317,178, a decrease of 54,282 from the previous week. Labor reported 15,797,261 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.