U.S. unemployment claims decreased for the week ended January 2

Market News

January 7, 2021

January 7, 2021

The seasonally adjusted initial claims, advance estimate, decreased by 3,000 to 787,000 for the week ending January 2, from the prior week’s revised level, according to the U.S. Department of Labour (DOL). The prior week’s level was revised from 787,000 to 790,000 up by 3,000. In comparison to the previous week’s average, the 4-week moving average was 818,750, a decline of 18,750. Moreover, the preceding week’s average was revised up by 750 from 836,750 to 837,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate stood at 3.5% for the week ending December 26, constant from the prior week’s revised rate. Moreover, DOL stated that, “advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 26 was 5,072,000, a decrease of 126,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 21,000 from 5,219,000 to 5,198,000.” Relative to last week’s revised average, the 4-week moving average decreased by 177,250 to 5,274,750. Notably, there was a downward revision in the preceding week’s average down by 5,250 from 5,457,250 to 5,452,000.

UNADJUSTED DATA

Based on the unadjusted advance estimate, there were 922,072 actual initial claims under state programs in the week ending January 2, a rise of 77,400 (or 9.2%) from the previous week. The seasonal factors anticipated an increase of 81,127 (or 9.6%) from the previous week. Furthermore, for the week ending January 2, 45 states observed 161,460 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

During the week ending December 26, the advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage point to 3.7% relative to the previous week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs rose by 145,444 (or 2.8%) to 5,382,459 from a week earlier. The seasonal factors had anticipated an increase of 271,437 (or 5.2%) from the previous week.

A total of 19,176,857 persons claimed benefits in all programs for the week ended December 19, a decline of 419,228 compared to the prior week.

Extended Benefits, during the week ending December 19, were accessible in the following 24 states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, the Virgin Islands, and Washington.

For the week ending the 26^th of December, 1,772 former Federal civilian employees claimed for UI benefits, a rise of 103 relative to the previous week, whereas 735 newly discharged veterans (-119) claimed for benefits.

However, for the week ending the 19^th of December, 16,772 former Federal civilian employees claimed for UI benefits, a decline of 236 relative to the previous week, whereas 9,094 newly discharged veterans (-815) claimed for benefits.

DOL noted that, “the week ending December 19, 51 states reported 8,383,387 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 4,516,900 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.”

In the week ending December 19, Puerto Rico observed the highest insured unemployment rates of 7.8% followed by the Illinois (-34,568), Pennsylvania (-9,026), Georgia (-7,713), Kansas (-3,710), and Texas (-3,531).

The state that experienced the highest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 26 were New York (+10,318), California (+10,071), Kentucky (+4,341), Missouri (+4,105), and New Jersey (+2,851), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-34,568), Pennsylvania (-9,026), Georgia (-7,713), Kansas (-3,710), and Texas (-3,531).

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