U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Edged Up in the Week of August 8
Summary
- New claims rose by 9,000 to 209,000 in the week of August 8.
- Continuing claims declined by 22,000 to 1.777 million in the week ending August 1.
- The insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 1.2% in the week of August 1.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 9,000 to 209,000 in the week ending August 8 from 200,000 in the week ending August 1, revised from 199,000. The four-week average was 199,000 in the August 8 week, unchanged from the prior week. Claims have been largely range-bound for most of the year between 200,000 and 220,000. The Action Economics/Haver Analytics Survey looked for 203,000 claims to have been filed.
The total number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries—also known as “continuing claims”— declined by 22,000 to 1. 777 million in the week of August 1 from 1.799 million in the week of July 25, revised from 1.801 million. The four-week moving average declined to 1.786 million in the August 1 week, from 1.791 million in the July 25 week. The insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.2% in the week of July 25.
The insured unemployment rate varies greatly across individual states and territories. In the week ending July 25, the highest unemployment rates were in Oregon (2.03%), Minnesota (2.05%), Massachusetts (2.15%), Rhode Island (2.26%), New Jersey (2.61%), and Puerto Rico (2.65%). The lowest rates were in South Dakota (0.29%), Florida (0.37%), North Carolina (0.41%), Alabama (0.42%), Louisiana (0.43%), and Arkansas (0.49%). Rates in other notable states include California (1.94%), New York (1.71%), Pennsylvania (1.68%), Illinois (1.57%), and Texas (1.10%). 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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