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. These form the basis for filing initial claims and reporting continuing claims each week. The four-week moving average was 1,860,750, an increase of 17,500 from the previous week’s revised average. Analysts revised the previous week’s average up by 500, increasing it from 1,842,750 to 1,843,250.
Unadjusted Data
During the week ending October 19, the total number of actual initial claims filed under state programs, unadjusted, reached 202,635. This figure reflects a decrease of 22,634 claims, or 10.0 percent, from 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 remained stable at 1.1 percent for the week ending October 12, matching the previous week’s rate. In addition, total unadjusted insured unemployment claims in state programs rose, reaching 1,635,367, reflecting an increase of 37,194 (or 2.3 percent) from the prior week. Notably, seasonal factors had projected a smaller increase of 13,084 (or 0.8 percent) compared to the previous week. Furthermore, a year ago, the rate was also 1.1 percent, and the volume stood at 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 in the comparable week in 2023.
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, a decrease of 71 from the previous week.
In the week ending October 5, former federal civilian employees filed 3,820 continuing weeks, representing a decrease of 109 from the previous week. Additionally, the total number of recently discharged veterans claiming benefits reached 4,351, which marks a decrease of 343 from the prior week. Moreover, the highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending October 5 occurred 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 claims reported by each state’s Unemployment Insurance Program offices. You can use these 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 serve as the basis for the initial claims filed and the continuing claims reported each week. These data come from ETA 538, Weekly Initial Filed and Continuing Claims Report. States revise initial claims and continuing claims the following week based on a second report that reflects claimants by state of residence. These data come from ETA 539, Weekly Claims and Extended Claims Data Report.
An initial claim is a claim that an unemployed individual files after separating from an employer. The claimant requests a determination of basic eligibility for the Unemployment Insurance program. When a state receives an initial claim, it triggers certain programming activities that result in a count of activities, including the count 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.
B. 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 reflect a good approximation of the number of currently insured unemployed workers who are applying for unemployment insurance benefits.
