Initial Claims at 3-Week Low as Effects of Hurricane Ian Fade

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell last week, negating an earlier spike resulting from effects of Hurricane Ian, the Labor Department said Thursday.

For the week ending October 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 214,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average rose to 212,250, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate rose to 1.0 percent for the week ending October 8, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 8 rose to 1,385,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average rose to 1,365,000, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 178,369 in the week ending October 15, a decrease of 20,003 (-10.1 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 9,285 (-4.7 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 257,215 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 0.8 percent during the week ending October 8. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,201,137, a decrease of 180 (0.0 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 19,090 (-1.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.6 percent; volume was 2,168,234.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending October 1 fell to 1,223,968, a decrease of 30,879 from the previous week. Labor reported 3,279,058 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.