Unemployment Claims Push Closer to Pre-Pandemic Levels
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by another 26,000 last week, edging closer to “normal” by pre-pandemic measures.
The Labor Department reported for the week ending July 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 360,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week’s revised level to the lowest level since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000.
The sharp drop comes on the heels of the first increase in initial claims last week in more than two months. The previous week’s level revised up by 13,000 from 373,000 to 386,000. The increase was attributed largely to a number of states ending enhanced unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
The four-week moving average fell to 382,500, a decrease of 14,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020, when it was 225,500.
The report said the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.4 percent for the week ending July 3, The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 3 fell to 3,241,000, a decrease of 126,000 from the previous week’s revised level to the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 21, 2020, when it was 3,094,000. The previous week’s level revised up 28,000 from 3,339,000 to 3,367,000. The four-week moving average fell to 3,376,000, a decrease of 71,750 from the previous week’s revised average to the lowest level 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 383,166 in the week ending July 10, an increase of 544 (0.1 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 26,534 (6.9 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 1,512,549 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending July 10, 46 states reported 96,362 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.3 percent during the week ending July 3. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 3,119,473, a decrease of 144,521 (-4.4 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 17,901 (-0.5 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 11.9 percent and the volume was 17,393,810.
The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending June 26 fell to 13,836,598, a decrease of 372,279 from the previous week. Labor reported 30,597,536 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.
