Unemployment Claims Edge Closer to Pre-Pandemic Levels

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to a new post-pandemic low last week, the Labor Department said, edging closer to pre-pandemic levels.

For the week ending October 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 281,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week to the lowest level since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000. The previous week’s level revised up by 1,000 from 290,000 to 291,000. The four-week moving average fell to 299,250, a decrease of 20,750 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 1.7 percent for the week ending October 16, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 16 fell to 2,243,000, a decrease of 237,000 from the previous week to its lowest level since March 14, 2020, when it was 1,770,000. The four-week moving average fell to 2,513,250, a decrease of 142,000 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 245,482 in the week ending October 23, a decrease of 11,733 (4.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 2,123 (0.8 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 732,533 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending October 23, 33 states reported 2,532 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 1.5 percent during the week ending October 16, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,991,160, a decrease of 177,053 (8.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 59,720 (2.8 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 5.1 percent and the volume was 7,458,511.

The report said the total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending October 9 fell to 2,830,661, a decrease of 448,386 from the previous week. Labor reported 23,479,913 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.