U.S. Unemployment Insurance Claims Rose 6,000 in Latest Week
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
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.
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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