Initial Claims Fall 5th Straight Week to 4-Month Low

Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell for the fifth straight week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, falling to their lowest level since May.

For the week ending September 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims fell to 213,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average fell to 224,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held at 1.0 percent for the week ending September 3, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 3 rose to 1,403,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average fell to 1,413,250, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 155,961 in the week ending September 10, a decrease of 16,934 (-9.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 13,518 (-7.8 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 265,902 initial claims in the comparable week in 2021.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 0.9 percent during the week ending September 3, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,275,704, a decrease of 92,150 (-6.7 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 93,900 (-6.9 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.7 percent; volume was 2,377,950.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending August 27 fell to 1,391,432, a decrease of 23,420 from the previous week. Labor reported 12,106,755 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2021.