In the week ending Aug. 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 215,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 209,000 to 211,000. The four-week moving average was 214,500, a decrease of 500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 214,500 to 215,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending Aug. 17, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 17 was 1,698,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 2,000 from 1,674,000 to 1,676,000. The four-week moving average was 1,697,250, a decrease of 250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 1,697,000 to 1,697,500.
Unadjusted Data
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 175,629 in the week ending Aug. 24, an increase of 4,245 (or 2.5%) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 1,266 (or 0.7%) from the previous week. There were 175,745 initial claims in the comparable week in 2018. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent during the week ending Aug. 17, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 1,613,112, a decrease of 6,257 (or -0.4%) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 26,822 (or -1.7%) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.1 percent and the volume was 1,624,222.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending Aug. 10 was 1,644,296, a decrease of 60,086 from the previous week. There were 1,694,100 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2018.
No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending Aug. 10.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 509 in the week ending Aug. 17, a decrease of 69 from the prior week. There were 491 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 74 from the preceding week.
There were 6,923 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Aug. 10, a decrease of 278 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 5,757, an increase of 158 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 10 were in New Jersey (2.4), Connecticut (2.2), Puerto Rico (2.2), Pennsylvania (1.9), Rhode Island (1.8), California (1.7), Alaska (1.6), Massachusetts (1.6), Illinois (1.5), and the Virgin Islands (1.5). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 17 were in Rhode Island (+142), Vermont (+32), South Dakota (+24), Wyoming (+21), and Idaho (+13), while the largest decreases were in California (-5,974), Texas (-1,122), New Jersey (-683), Iowa (-544), and Florida (-500).
