Initial Claims Take Post-Pandemic Upturn

Initial claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly increased last week, but remained near the lowest level since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The report said for the week ending August 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims rose to 353,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s level, which also revised up by 1,000 from 348,000 to 349,000. The four-week moving average fell to 366,500, a decrease of 11,500 from the previous week’s revised average to the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020, when it was 225,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.1 percent for the week ending August 14.  advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 14 fell to 2,862,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level to the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 14, 2020, when it was 1,770,000. The previous week’s level revised up 45,000 from 2,820,000 to 2,865,000. The four-week moving average fell to 2,901,500, a decrease of 108,500 from the previous week’s revised average to the lowest level for this average since March 21, 2020, when it was 2,071,750.

The report said the advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 297,765 in the week ending August 21, a decrease of 11,699 (3.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 15,864 (5.1 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 814,639 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending August 21, 43 states reported 117,709 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

Labor said the advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.0 percent during the week ending August 14. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 2,763,176, a decrease of 44,930 (1.6 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 42,151 (1.5 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 9.5 percent and the volume was 13,839,980.

The report said the total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending August 7 was 12,007,632, an increase of 182,165 from the previous week. Labor reported 27,476,415 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.