Initial Claims Reach Another Pandemic Low

Initial claims for unemployment insurance continued its positive trend downward, falling well under 500,000 for the second week in a row, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The report said for the week ending May 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 473,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020 when it was 256,000. The four-week moving average fell to 534,000, a decrease of 28,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is also the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate dipped to 2.6 percent for the week ending May 1, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 1 fell to 3,655,000, a decrease of 45,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average fell to 3,665,000, a decrease of 13,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 28, 2020, when it was 3,611,750.

The report said the advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 487,436 in the week ending May 8, a decrease of 26,286 (or -5.1 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 7,909 (or 1.5 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 2,326,632 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending May 8, 52 states reported 103,571 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.7 percent during the week ending May 1. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 3,709,566, a decrease of 86,659 (or -2.3 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 41,615 (or -1.1 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 14.3 percent and the volume was 20,855,301.

The report said the total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending April 24 rose to 16,855,264, an increase of 696,152 from the previous week. It said 21,863,056 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.