US Weekly Unemployment Insurance Claims

Seasonally Adjusted Data

For the week ended October 19, the seasonally adjusted advance number of initial claims was 227,000, down 15,000 from the prior week’s revised level. The prior week’s level was revised up 1,000 from 241,000 to 242,000. The 4-week moving average was 238,500, up 2,000 from the prior week’s revised average. The prior week’s average was revised up 250 from 236,250 to 236,500.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.3 percent for the week ended October 12, up 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate. The seasonally adjusted advance number of insured unemployment for the week ended October 12 was 1,897,000, up 28,000 from the prior week’s revised level. This is the highest level of insured unemployment since November 13, 2021, when it was 1,974,000. The previous week’s level increased by 2,000, rising from 1,867,000 to 1,869,000. The four-week moving average was 1,860,750, an increase of 17,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average increased by 500, rising from 1,842,750 to 1,843,250.

Unadjusted Data

The total number of actual initial claims filed under state programs, unadjusted, reached 202,635 for the week ending October 19, reflecting a decrease of 22,634 claims, or 10.0 percent, compared to the previous week. Seasonally adjusted factors had forecast a decrease of 9,426 (or -4.2 percent) from the previous week. There were 193,999 initial claims in the comparable week in 2023.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending October 12 were in Georgia (+3,293), New York (+2,340), Pennsylvania (+1,379), Texas (+886), and South Carolina (+779).

while the largest declines were in Michigan (-7,917), Florida (-3,257), and Ohio (-2,556).

Total number of continuing weeks claimed

Total Continuing Weeks Claimed

The unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent for the week ended October 12, unchanged from the previous week. Total unadjusted insured unemployment claims in state programs totaled 1,635,367.

an increase of 37,194 (or 2.3 percent) from the previous week. Seasonal factors had projected an increase of 13,084 (or 0.8 percent) from the previous week. A year ago, the rate was 1.1 percent and the volume was 1,572,658.

The total number of continuing weeks of benefits claimed in all programs for the week ended October 5 was 1,621,451, a decrease of 16,058 from the previous week. Individuals filed 1,566,413 weekly claims for benefits across all programs during the comparable week in 2023. No state was “on” the extended benefits program during the week ending October 5.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits filed by former federal civilian employees totaled 425 in the week ending October 12.

an increase of 80 from the previous week. Recently discharged veterans filed 406 initial claims, marking a decrease of 71 from the previous week.

There were 3,820 continuing weeks filed by former federal civilian employees in the week ending October 5.

a decrease of 109 from the previous week. The total number of recently discharged veterans claiming benefits was 4,351, a decrease of 343 from the previous week. The highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending October 5 were in New Jersey (2.2), California (1.9), Puerto Rico (1.9), Washington (1.8), Nevada (1.6), Rhode Island (1.6), Massachusetts (1.5), New York (1.5), Illinois (1.4), Alaska (1.3), Oregon (1.3), and Pennsylvania (1.3)

Continuing Claims Reported Each Week

This press release presents weekly unemployment insurance reported by each state’s Unemployment Insurance Program offices. Analysts can use these claims to monitor workload, evaluate state program operations, and assess labor market conditions. States initially report claims taken by the state directly responsible for benefit payments.

regardless of the residence of the claimant filing the claim. These are the basis for the initial claims filed and continuing claims reported each week. These data come from ETA 538, Weekly Initial Claims Filed and Continuing Claims Report. States revise initial claims and continuing claims the following week based on a second report that reflects claimants by their state of residence. These data come from ETA 539, Weekly Claims and Extended Claims Data Report.

  1. An initial claim is a claim filed by an unemployed individual after separating from an employer. The claimant requests a determination of basic eligibility for the Unemployment Insurance program. When an individual files an initial claim with a state, specific programming activities occur, resulting in a count of activities, including the number of initial claims. The count of initial claims for unemployment insurance in the United States is a leading economic indicator because it is an indicator of emerging labor market conditions in the country. However, these are weekly administrative data that are difficult to seasonally adjust, making the series subject to some volatility.
  2. Continued Weeks Claimed A person who has already filed an initial claim and has experienced a week of unemployment then files a continuing claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment. On a weekly basis, continuing claims are also referred to as

Insured Unemployment, as continuing claims reflect a good approximation of the number of currently insured unemployed workers who are applying for unemployment insurance benefits.

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