Unemployment Insurance Claims Edge Up

MBA NewsLink Staff

Initial claims for unemployment insurance crept back up last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, perhaps signaling that the post-pandemic jobs recovery isn’t quite there, yet.

For the week ending March 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims rose to 227,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week, which revised up by 1,000 from 215,000 to 216,000. The four-week moving average rose to 231,250, an increase of 500 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.1 percent for the week ending February 26. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 26 rose to 1,494,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week, which revised down by 7,000 from 1,476,000 to 1,469,000. The four-week moving average fell to 1,506,500, a decrease of 31,250 from the previous week’s revised average to its lowest level since March 28, 1970, when it was 1,483,500.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 218,072 in the week ending March 5, an increase of 22,025 (11.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 10,954 (5.6 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 722,180 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate rose to 1.4 percent during the week ending February 26, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,916,175, an increase of 64,079 (3.5 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 39,268 (2.1 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 3.2 percent and volume was 4,582,021.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending February 19 fell to 1,909,025, a decrease of 62,259 from the previous week. Labor reported 20,837,008 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.