Initial Claims Drop Sharply

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell for the first time in four weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The report said for the week ending October 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 326,000, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week, which revised up by 2,000 from 362,000 to 364,000. The four-week moving average rose to 344,000, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 2.0 percent for the week ending September 25, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate (2.1 percent). The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 25 fell to 2,714,000, a decrease of 97,000 from the previous week to the lowest level since March 14, 2020, when it was 1,770,000. The four-week moving average fell t 2,765,000, a decrease of 34,500 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 258,909 in the week ending October 2, a decrease of 41,431 (13.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 3,711 (1.2 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 723,981 initial claims in the comparable week in 2020. In addition, for the week ending October 2, 42 states reported 23,453 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 1.7 percent during the week ending September 25, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 2,391,433, a decrease of 79,018 (3.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 17,918 (0.7 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 7.0 percent and the volume was 10,156,754.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending September 18 fell to 4,172,943, a decrease of 854,638 from the previous week. Labor reported 24,609,335 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.