Unemployment Claims Down 214,000

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 15,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, moving more toward “normal” numbers post-pandemic.

For the week ending March 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 214,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week, which revised up by 2,000 from 227,000 to 229,000. The four-week moving average fell to 223,000, a decrease of 8,750 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 1.0 percent for the week ending March 5, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 5 fell to 1,419,000, a decrease of 71,000 from the previous week’s revised level to its lowest level since February 21, 1970, when it was 1,412,000.

The four-week moving average fell to 1,463,000, a decrease of 42,500 from the previous week’s revised average to its lowest level since March 21, 1970, when it was 1,456,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 202,894 in the week ending March 12, a decrease of 16,981 (7.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 1,486 0.7 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 757,202 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 1.3 percent during the week ending March 5, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,805,752, a decrease of 106,417 (5.6 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 35,141 (1.8 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 3.2 percent and volume was 4,495,885.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending February 26 was 1,968,544, an increase of 59,516 from the previous week. Labor reported 18,946,509 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.