U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Edge Down in the Week of August 22
Summary
- New claims declined by 4,000 to 203,000 in the week of August 22.
- Continuing claims declined by 18,000 to 1.778 million in the week ending August 15.
- The insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.2% in the week of August 15.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance declined 4,000 to 203,000 in the week ending August 22, from 207,000 in the week ending August 15, revised marginally from 206,000. The four-week average was 205,500 in the August 22 week, up from 204,250 in the August 15 week. Claims remain largely range-bound at historically low levels between 200,000 and 230,000. The Action Economics/Haver Analytics Survey looked for 208,000 claims to have been filed.
The total number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries—also known as “continuing claims”— decreased by 18,000 to 1.778 million in the week ending August 15, from 1.796 million in the week ending August 8, revised from 1.799 million. The four-week moving average rose to 1.789 million in the August 15 week up from 1.788 million in the August 8 week. The insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.2% in the week of August 15.
The insured unemployment rate varies greatly across individual states and territories. In the week ending August 8, the highest unemployment rates were in Oregon (2.01%), Minnesota (2.06%), Massachusetts (2.11%), Rhode Island (2.20%), Puerto Rico (2.57%), and New Jersey (2.60%). The lowest rates were in South Dakota (0.26%), Florida (0.36%), Alabama (0.39%), Louisiana and North Carolina (both 0.40%), Arkansas (0.43%), and North Dakota (0.49%). Rates in other notable states include California (1.89%), New York and Pennsylvania (both 1.71%), Illinois (1.54%), and Texas (1.05%). 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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