Initial Claims Plunge to 50-Year Low

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell dramatically last week, well below pre-pandemic levels to the lowest rate in more than 50 years, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

For the week ending November 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 199,000, a decrease of 71,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since November 15, 1969, when it was 197,000. The four-week moving average fell to 252,250, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week’s revised average to its lowest level since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 1.5 percent for the week ending November 13, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate, which revised up by 0.1 from 1.5 to 1.6 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 13 fell to 2,049,000, a decrease of 60,000 from the previous to its lowest level since March 14, 2020, when it was 1,770,000. The four-week moving average fell to 2,117,000, a decrease of 47,500 from the previous week’s revised average to its 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 258,622 in the week ending November 20, an increase of 18,187 (7.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 88,572 (36.8 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 828,099 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending November 20, 32 states reported 1,616 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.3 percent during the week ending November 13. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,814,354, an increase of 31,049 (1.7 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 91,124 (5.1 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 4.0 percent and the volume was 5,917,233.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending November 6 fell to 2,432,281, a decrease of 752,390 from the previous week. Labor reported 21,111,266 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.