U.S. Modest Rise in Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance in Jan. 11 Week
Summary
- Total beneficiaries decline in prior week.
- Insured unemployment rate holds at 1.2%.
- Rates in states range from 0.33% in Kentucky to 2.95% in Rhode Island.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance were 217,000, seasonally adjusted, in the week ended January 11, up from 203,000 in the January 4 week; that was revised modestly from 201,000 reported before. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had expected the latest week to be 214,000. The latest four-week moving average was 213,000, down from 214,000 the prior week.
The total number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries, also known as “continued claims,” was 1.859 million in the week ended January 4, down from 1.877 million the week before; that earlier amount was revised up from 1.867 initially reported. The small change left the insured unemployment rate at 1.2%, the same amount as the week before. This is the total number of insured unemployed as a percent of covered employment. Except for three weeks at 1.3% back in November, this rate has been at 1.2% since March 11, 2023.
Unemployment rates vary widely across states. The Labor Department reports that for the week ended December 28, the insured unemployment rate was highest in Rhode Island (2.95%), New Jersey (2.90%), Minnesota (2.79%), Washington (2.53%) and Massachusetts (2.33%). The insured unemployment rates were lowest in Kentucky (0.33%), Florida (0.34%), Virginia (0.42%), Virgin Islands (0.55%), and Tennessee and Alabama (both 0.57%). Rates in other notable states include California (2.22%), Pennsylvania (2.15%), New York (2.03%) and Texas (1.19%). These state 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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