Initial Claims Ease Ahead of Holiday
In the third of four major employment reports this week, the Labor Department reported initial claims for unemployment insurance fell for the third straight week ahead of the Labor Day weekend to the lowest level since July.
For the week ending August 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 232,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average fell to 241,500, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised average.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.0 percent for the week ending August 20. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured
unemployment during the week ending August 20 rose to 1,438,000, an increase of 26,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average was 1,428,500, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week’s revised average.
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 176,793 in the week ending August 27, a decrease of 2,492 (-1.4 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 946 (0.5 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 292,292 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.0 percent during the week ending August 20. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,392,268, a decrease of 22,085 (-1.6 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 47,992 (-3.4 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.0 percent; the volume was 2,674,769.
The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending August 13 was 1,438,128, a decrease of 10,407 from the previous week. Labor reported 12,186,219 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.
On Friday, The Bureau of Labor Statistics issues its monthly Employment Situation report (8:30 a.m. ET) on August employment numbers. MBA NewsLink will cover the report in its Tuesday, Sept. 6 edition (no issue on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 5), with commentary and analysis from MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.
