Unemployment insurance weekly claims report update

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows that in the week ending Aug. 8, the figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims decreased from the previous week, while the adjusted insured unemployment rate decreased by 0.4 percent for the week ending Aug. 1.

In the week ending August 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 963,000, a decrease of 228,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 5,000 from 1,186,000 to 1,191,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,252,750, a decrease of 86,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 1,337,750 to 1,339,000. 

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 10.6 percent for the week ending August 1, a decrease of 0.4 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 1 was 15,486,000, a decrease of 604,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 17,000 from 16,107,000 to 16,090,000. The 4-week moving average was 16,169,500, a decrease of 454,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 4,250 from 16,628,250 to 16,624,000.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 831,856 in the week ending August 8, a decrease of 156,453 (or -15.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 40,485 (or 4.1 percent) from the previous week. There were 186,914 initial claims in the comparable week in 2019. In addition, for the week ending August 8, 52 states reported 488,622 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. 

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 10.4 percent during the week ending August 1, a decrease of 0.4 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 15,207,671, a decrease of 624,684 (or -3.9 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 32,180 (or -0.2 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.2 percent and the volume was 1,679,471.