Jobless Claims Rise Again as Job Market Shows Signs of Softening
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose for the fifth time in seven weeks and surpassed pre-pandemic levels, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
For the week ending April 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims rose to 245,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The four-week moving average fell to 239,750, a decrease of 500 from the previous week’s revised average.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate rose to 1.3 percent for the week ending April 8, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 8 rose to 1,865,000, an increase of 61,000 from the previous week’s revised level to its highest level since November 27, 2021, when it was 1,964,000. The four-week moving average rose to 1,827,250, an increase of 15,250 from the previous week’s revised average to its highest level since December 18, 2021, when it was 1,838,000.
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 228,216 in the week ending April 15, a decrease of 7,021 (-3.0 percent) from the previous week. Labor reported 197,219 initial claims in the comparable week in 2022. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.2 percent during the week ending April 8. The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,792,624, a decrease of 2,847 (-0.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 61,353 (or -3.4 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.0 percent; volume was 1,467,346.
The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending April 1 fell to 1,821,910, a decrease of 50,026 from the previous week. Labor reported 1,620,762 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2022.
