Unemployment Claims Gain A Slight Bump This Week

Posted August 3, 2023

Americans applying for unemployment benefits increased last week, causing a bump in weekly claims but the rate continues to maintain a low level in the job market, according to the U.S. Department of Labor report released Thursday.

In the week ending July 29, applications for seasonally adjusted initial claims increased by 6,000 to 227,000, according to the Labor Department. The four-week moving average of claims decreased by 5,500 to 228,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent for the week ending July 22, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. During the same week, the advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment was 1,700,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 11,000 from 1,690,000 to 1,679,000.

The four-week moving average was 1,712,250, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 2,750 from 1,719,500 to 1,716,750.

View the full report, here.