U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Increase Slightly in February 1 Week
Summary
- Total beneficiaries had increased the week before.
- Insured unemployment rate holds at long-standing 1.2%.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 11,000 in the week ended February 1 to 219,000, seasonally adjusted, from 208,000 the week before; that was revised slightly from 207,000 reported before. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had expected 214,000 in the latest week. The four-week moving average of initial claims was 216,750 through the latest week, up from 212,750 the week before.
The total number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries – also known as “continuing claims” – was 1.886 million in the week ended January 25, up from 1.85 million the prior week. The four-week moving average of this total was 1,872.25 million through the week ended January 25, slightly more than the 1,870.00 through the prior week.
The insured unemployment rate – that is, the total number of beneficiaries as a percent of covered employment – still held at 1.2%, where it has been almost continuously since early 2023.
Unemployment rates vary widely across states and territories. The Labor Department reports that in the week ended January 18, the highest rates were in New Jersey (2.88%), Rhode Island (2.82%), Minnesota (2.52%), Illinois (2.43%), and Massachusetts (2.36%). The lowest rates were in Florida (0.34%), Virginia (0.43%), Alabama (0.45%), Tennessee and North Carolina (both 0.58%), and New Hampshire (0.59%). Rates in other notable states include California (2.2%), Pennsylvania (2.04%), New York and Connecticut (both 1.88%) and Texas and Missouri (both 1.08%). These state unemployment rates 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.
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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