U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Declined in Latest Week
Summary
- Initial claims declined 33,000 in latest week.
- Continuing claims were down slightly.
- Insured unemployment rate holds steady.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped by 33,000 in the week of September 13 to 231,000, from 264,000 in the week ended September 6, revised from 263,000. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 244,000 initial claims for last week. The four-week moving average of initial claims was 240,000, a slight decrease from 240,750, revised from 240,500.
In the week ended September 6, the total number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries – also known as “continuing claims” – was 1.920 million, a decrease of 7,000 from 1.927 million in the prior week, which was revised down by 12,000 from 1.939 million. The four-week moving average was 1.933 million, a decrease from 1,943 million, revised from 1.946 million.
In the week ending September 6 the insured rate of unemployment (the number of beneficiaries as a percent of covered employment) remained at 1.3%.
The insured unemployment rate varied greatly across individual states and territories. In the week ended August 30, the highest unemployment rates were in New Jersey (2.67%), Rhode Island (2.14%), Massachusetts (2.02%), and Washington (2.00%). The lowest were in South Dakota (0.23%), Florida (0.37%), North Carolina (0.43%), Alabama (0.44%), North Dakota (0.45%), Kentucky (0.48%), and Louisiana and Nebraska (both 0.49%). Rates in other notable states include New York (1.72%), Illinois (1.56%), Pennsylvania (1.55%), and Texas (1.17%). 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. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey in the AS1REPNA database.
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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