U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Edged Up in Latest Week

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 225,000 (6.6% y/y) during the week ended December 24 from the previous week's unrevised level of 216,000. A level of 220,000 had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.

The 4-week moving average of initial claims was 221,000, a decrease from the previous week's average of 221,250, revised from 221,750. It remained well below an early-August high of 249,500 but also well above an early-April low of 170,500.

In the week ended December 17, continued weeks claimed for unemployment insurance increased to 1.710 million (-4.6% y/y) from 1.669 million in the prior week, revised down from 1.672 million. The 4-week moving average was 1.680 million, a rise of 25,250 from the previous week's 1.654 million, revised from 1.657 million.

The insured unemployment rate in the week ended December 17 was steady at 1.2%. The insured unemployment rate edged up to 1.2% in late November from 1.0% in early that month. It had been as low as 0.9% between May and July.

In the week ended December 10, the total number of continued weeks claimed in all unemployment insurance programs was 1.620 million (-15.7% y/y) up from 1.528 million the week prior. This total includes federal employees, newly discharged veterans, extended benefits and other specialized programs and is not seasonally adjusted. Claims in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation are no longer included in the main Labor Department press release, as both programs have expired.

The insured rates of unemployment in regular programs vary across states. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 10 were in Alaska (2.28%), California (2.06%), New Jersey (2.11%), Puerto Rico (1.99%), Minnesota (1.83%), Montana (1.78%), Rhode Island (1.67%), Massachusetts (1.62%), New York (1.61%), and Washington (1.57%). The lowest rates were in Alabama (0.24%), Virginia (0.25%), Kansas (0.30%), and New Hampshire (0.35%). Other state insured rates of unemployment in regular programs include Illinois (1.54%), Pennsylvania (1.39%), Texas (0.93%) and Florida (0.47%). These state rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Data on weekly unemployment claims going back to 1967 are contained in Haver's WEEKLY database, and they are summarized monthly in USECON. Data for individual states are in REGIONW. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey, carried in the AS1REPNA database.