U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rise Just 4,000 in June 29 Week
Summary
- Initial claims hover in tight range over last month.
- Continuing claims up moderately in June 22 week.
- Insured unemployment rate still at 1.2%.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance were 238,000, seasonally adjusted, in the week ended June 29, up slightly from 234,000 in the June 22nd week; that earlier amount was revised from 233,000 reported a week ago. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 235,000 in the latest week. The four-week moving average of initial claims was 238,500 in the June 29 week, up from 236,250 through the prior week.
The total number of unemployment beneficiaries, also called continued weeks claimed, was 1.858 million in the week ended June 22, up from 1.832 million the week before. That earlier amount was revised from 1.839 million reported previously. The four-week moving average of continuing claims was 1.831 million in the June 22 week, up from 1.814 million through the previous week.
The insured unemployment rate was yet again 1.2%. This is the number of continued weeks claimed as a percent of covered employment. This rate has been 1.2% continuously since the week ended March 11, 2023.
Economic conditions vary widely among individual states, as illustrated by the insured unemployment rates. In the week ended June 15, the highest rates were in New Jersey (2.2%), California (2.1%), Minnesota (2.0%), Puerto Rico (1.9%), and Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington (all 1.7%). The lowest rates were in South Dakota (0.3%), Virginia, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Kansas, and Florida (all 0.4%), and North Dakota, North Carolina, Nebraska and Alabama (all 0.5%).
Data on weekly unemployment claims are from the Department of Labor, 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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