Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest Level Since 1968

MBA NewsLink Staff

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 166,000 last week, the lowest level since 1968, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The report said for the week ending April 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 166,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s level, which revised down by 31,000 from 202,000 to 171,000. The four-week moving average fell to 170,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.1 percent for the week ending March 26. The previous week’s rate revised up by 0.2 from 0.9 to 1.1 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 26 rose to 1,523,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week, which revised up 199,000 from 1,307,000 to 1,506,000. The four-week moving average fell to 1,541,250, a decrease of 35,250 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 193,137 in the week ending April 2, a decrease of 3,674 (1.9 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 2,054 (1.0 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 668,346 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.2 percent during the week ending March 26. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,650,788, a decrease of 20,365 (1.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 39,144 (2.3 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.8 percent; volume was 4,002,030.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending March 19 fell to 1,723,024, a decrease of 52,806 from the previous week. Labor reported 18,387,297 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.