U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Dropped in the Week of October 24
Summary
- New claims declined by 1,000 to 194,000 in the week of October 24.
- Continuing claims fell by 21,000 to 1.701 million in the week ending October 17.
- The insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.1% in the week of October 17.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped by 1,000 to 194,000 in the week ending October 24 from 195,000 in the week ending October 17, revised from 194,000. The four-week average was 196,750 in the October 24 week, down from 198,000 in the October 17 week, revised from 197,750. The Action Economics/Haver Analytics Survey looked for 198,000 claims to have been filed. These weekly data underscore the downward trend in claims in place since the second half of last year.
This downward trend in echoed in the total number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries—also known as “continuing claims”—. They fell 21,000 to 1.701 million in the week ending October 17, down from 1.722 million in the week ending October 10, revised from 1.728 million. This is the lowest level since the September 19 week. The four-week moving average was 1.710 million in the October 17 week, essentially unchanged from the October 10 week, revised from 1.711 million. The insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.1% in the October 17 week, where it has held since the week of August 29.
The insured unemployment rate varies greatly across individual states and territories. In the week ending October 10, no state had an insured unemployment rate above 2.00%; the highest was in New Jersey (1.96%). The lowest rates were in South Dakota (0.21%), Louisiana (0.28%), Florida (0.30%), Alabama and North Dakota (both 0.33%), North Carolina (0.35%), Arkansas (0.36%), Nebraska (0.39%), Iowa (0.40%), Kentucky (0.42%), Kansas (0.43%), Georgia, Idaho, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Wyoming (all 0.47%), Virginia (0.48%), and Mississippi and Wisconsin (both 0.49%). Rates in other notable states include Texas (0.93%), Pennsylvania (1.19%), Illinois (1.29%), New York (1.36%) and California (1.67%). These state data are not seasonally adjusted.
Data on weekly unemployment claims are from the Department of Labor itself, not the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They begin in 1967 and are contained in Haver’s WEEKLY database and summarized monthly in USECON. Data for individual states are in REGIONW back to December 1986.
Kathleen Stephansen, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Kathleen Stephansen is a Senior Economist for Haver Analytics and an Independent Trustee for the EQAT/VIP/1290 Trust Funds, encompassing the US mutual funds sponsored by the Equitable Life Insurance Company. She is a former Chief Economist of Huawei Technologies USA, Senior Economic Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, Chief Economist of the American International Group (AIG) and AIG Asset Management’s Senior Strategist and Global Head of Sovereign Research. Prior to joining AIG in 2010, Kathleen held various positions as Chief Economist or Head of Global Research at Aladdin Capital Holdings, Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corporation.
Kathleen serves on the boards of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), as Vice-Chair of the GIC College of Central Bankers, is the Treasurer for Economists for Peace and Security (EPS) and is a former board member of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). She is a member of Chatham House and the Economic Club of New York. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Universite Catholique de Louvain and graduate degrees in economics from the University of New Hampshire (MA) and the London School of Economics (PhD abd).
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