Initial Claims Rise Ahead of Friday Jobs Report

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to nearly their highest level this year, ahead of this morning’s unemployment report, the Labor Department said Thursday.

For the week ending July 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims rose to 260,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average was 254,750, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

Courtesy U.S. Department of Labor.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.0 percent for the week ending July 23. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 23 rose to 1,416,000, an increase of 48,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average rose to 1,375,250, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

Since falling to a post-pandemic low in April, initial claims have risen incrementally, reaching a yearly high of nearly 270,000 three weeks ago.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 205,587 in the week ending July 30, a decrease of 9,825 (-4.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 14,242 (-6.6 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 325,715 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.0 percent during the week ending July 23. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,450,213, an increase of 2,943 (0.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 46,510 (-3.2 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.1 percent; volume was 2,930,342.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending July 16 fell to 1,472,578, a decrease of 3,890 from the previous week. Labor reported 12,964,897 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its monthly Employment Situation report on July jobs (8:30 a.m. ET). MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni will provide commentary and analysis on the Friday employment numbers in the Monday, Aug. 8 edition of MBA NewsLink.