Unemployment Insurance Claims Continue Backslide

Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased for the second straight week to their highest level since last November, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The report said for the week ending January 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims rose to 230,000, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 207,000. The four-week moving average rose to 210,750, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 204,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate fell, however, to 1.1 percent for the week ending January 1, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 1 fell to 1,559,000, a decrease of 194,000 from the previous week to its lowest level since June 2, 1973, when it was 1,556,000. The four-week moving average fell to 1,721,500, a decrease of 77,000 from the previous week’s revised average to its lowest level since March 7, 2020, when it was 1,714,500.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 419,446 in the week ending January 8, an increase of 103,693 (32.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 81,072 (25.7 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 1,082,696 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate roseto 1.5 percent during the week ending January 1, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 2,056,818, an increase of 187,075 (10.0 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 381,506 (or 20.4 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 4.1 percent and volume was 5,756,886.

The report said the total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending December 25 rose to 1,948,624, an increase of 226,264 from the previous week. Labor reported 19,377,528 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2020.