Initial Claims Rise for First Time Since April

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose for the first time in seven weeks and rose above the 400,000 mark for the first time since mid-May, the Labor Department reported Friday.

For the week ending June 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims jumped to 412,000, an increase of 37,000 from the previous week’s level, which revised down by 1,000 from 376,000 to 375,000. The four-week moving average fell to 395,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average to the lowest level since March 14, 2020, when it was 225,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.5 percent for the week ending June 5. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 5 rose to 3,518,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s level, which revised up by 18,000 from 3,499,000 to 3,517,000. The four-week moving average fell to 3,603,750, a decrease of 55,000 from the previous week’s revised average to the lowest level since March 21, 2020, when it was 2,071,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 402,352 in the week ending June 12, an increase of 37,174 (10.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 432 (or -0.1 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 1,457,102 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending June 12, 52 states reported 118,025 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.4 percent during the week ending June 5. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 3,288,318, a decrease of 45,145 (-1.4 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 46,651 (-1.4 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 12.8 percent and volume was 18,687,253.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending May 29 fell to 14,828,950, a decrease of 559,873 from the previous week. Labor reported 30,170,225 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.