U.S. Unemployment Insurance Claims Fell 6,000 in Latest Week
Summary
- Jobless claims on very slight downward trend.
- Continuing claims are rising gradually.
- The insured unemployment rate inched up to 1.3%, the first rise since March 2023.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance were down 6,000 to 213,000 seasonally adjusted in the week ended November 16, from 219,000 in the week ended November 9. The previous week’s level was revised up 2,000 from 217,000. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected the latest week to be 222,000. The 4-week moving average of actual claims was 217,750 down from 221,500 in the week ended November 9.
The total number of unemployment insurance beneficiaries, also known as “continuing claims,” was 1.908 million seasonally adjusted in the week ended November 9, up 36,000 from 1.872 million in the week ended November 2, revised down marginally from 1.873 million. This is the highest level for insured unemployment since November 13, 2021 when it was 1.974 million. The 4-week moving average of continuing claims was 1.879 million in the November 9 week, up from the prior week’s 1.874 million. This is the highest level for this average since November 27, 2021 when it was 1.928 million.
Through the week ended November 9, the number of beneficiaries as a percent of covered employment was 1.3%, up from 1.2%, and the first rise since March 11, 2023.
Economic conditions vary widely across states and territories. In the week ended November 2, the highest unemployment rates were in New Jersey (2.18%), California (1.98%), Puerto Rico (1.89%), Washington (1.71%) and Alaska (1.62%). The lowest rates were in South Dakota (0.29%), Florida (0.37%), Virginia (0.40%), Alabama and Kentucky (both 0.42%), and New Hampshire (0.45%). Rates in other notable states include New York (1.51%), Illinois (1.44%), Pennsylvania (1.38%) and Texas (1.00%). These state rates are not seasonally adjusted.
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.
Kathleen Stephansen, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Kathleen Stephansen is a Senior Economist for Haver Analytics and an Independent Trustee for the EQAT/VIP/1290 Trust Funds, encompassing the US mutual funds sponsored by the Equitable Life Insurance Company. She is a former Chief Economist of Huawei Technologies USA, Senior Economic Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, Chief Economist of the American International Group (AIG) and AIG Asset Management’s Senior Strategist and Global Head of Sovereign Research. Prior to joining AIG in 2010, Kathleen held various positions as Chief Economist or Head of Global Research at Aladdin Capital Holdings, Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corporation.
Kathleen serves on the boards of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), as Vice-Chair of the GIC College of Central Bankers, is the Treasurer for Economists for Peace and Security (EPS) and is a former board member of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). She is a member of Chatham House and the Economic Club of New York. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Universite Catholique de Louvain and graduate degrees in economics from the University of New Hampshire (MA) and the London School of Economics (PhD abd).
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