Jobless Claims at 5-Month High

Initial claims for unemployment insurance jumped last week to their highest level since January, but remain near post-pandemic lows, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

For the week ending June 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims rose to 229,000, an increase of 27,000 from the previous week’s level, which revised up by 2,000 from 200,000 to 202,000. The four-week moving average was 215,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 0.9 percent for the week ending May 28. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 28 was unchanged at 1,306,000. The four-week moving average fell to 1,317,500, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised average to its lowest level since January 10, 1970, when it was 1,310,250.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 184,604 in the week ending June 4, an increase of 1,008 (0.5 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 21,362 (11.6 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 364,577 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 0.9 percent during the week ending May 28. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,255,052, a decrease of 1,631 (0.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 1,306 (0.1 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.4 percent; volume was 3,333,477.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending May 21 was 1,283,684, a decrease of 35,619 from the previous week. Labor reported 15,385,233 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.