Initial Claims Down 30,000

Initial claims for unemployment insurance continued its yo-yo pattern in recent weeks, falling by 30,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

For the week ending January 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 260,000, a decrease of 30,000 from the previous week, which revised up by 4,000 from 286,000 to 290,000. The four-week moving average rose 247,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week’s revised average, reflecting increases in claims over the past month.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.2 percent for the week ending January 15. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 15 rose to 1,675,000, an increase of 51,000 from the previous week, which revised down by 11,000 from 1,635,000 to 1,624,000. The four-week moving average fell to 1,651,750, a decrease of 10,750 from the previous week’s revised average to its lowest level since August 18, 1973, when it was 1,646,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 267,573 in the week ending January 22, a decrease of 73,357 (21.5 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 43,282 (12.7 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 840,705 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.5 percent during the week ending January 15. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 2,004,640, a decrease of 60,303 (2.9 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 111,254 (5.4 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 3.7 percent and the volume was 5,218,474.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending January 8 rose to 2,140,986, an increase of 8,444 from the previous week. Labor reported 19,048,138 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.