March 25, 2021
The seasonally adjusted initial claims, advance estimate, decreased by 97,000 to 684,000, for the week ending March 20, from the prior week’s revised level, according to the U.S. Department of Labour (DOL). The prior week’s level was revised up from 770,000 to 781,000 by 11,000. In comparison to the previous week’s average, the 4-week moving average was 736,000, a decline of 13,000. Moreover, the preceding week’s average was revised up by 2,750 from 746,250 to 749,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate stood at 2.7% for the week ending March 13, a decline of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate. Moreover, DOL stated that, “the advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 13 was 3,870,000, a decrease of 264,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 10,000 from 4,124,000 to 4,134,000.” Relative to last week’s revised average, the 4-week moving average decreased by 137,250 to 4,120,750. The prior week’s average was revised up by 2,500 from 4,255,500 to 4,258,000.
UNADJUSTED DATA
Based on the unadjusted advance estimate, there were 656,789 actual initial claims under state programs in the week ending March 20, a decline of 100,412 (or -13.3%) from the previous week. The seasonal factors anticipated a fall of 3,865 (or -0.5%) from the previous week. Furthermore, for the week ending March 20, 51 states observed 241,745 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
During the week ending March 13, the advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 3.0% relative to the previous week, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point. The advance unadjusted number of persons claiming UI benefits in state programs fell by 278,573 (or -6.2%) to 4,217,259 from a week earlier. The seasonal factors had anticipated a decrease of 14,896 (or -0.3%) from the previous week.
A total of 18,952,795 persons claimed benefits in all programs for the week ended March 6, a rise of 733,862 compared to the prior week.
Extended Benefits, during the week ending March 6, were accessible in the following 16 states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and the Virgin Islands.
For the week ending the 13th of March, 1,248 former Federal civilian employees claimed for UI benefits, a decline of 38 relative to the previous week, whereas 737 newly discharged veterans (+38) claimed for benefits.
However, for the week ending the 6th of March, 19,074 former Federal civilian employees claimed for UI benefits, a fall of 573 relative to the previous week, whereas 8,638 newly discharged veterans (+366) claimed for benefits.
DOL noted that, “during the week ending March 6, 51 states reported 7,735,491 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 5,551,215 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.”
In the week ending March 6, Pennsylvania observed the highest insured unemployment rate of 5.8% followed by the Virgin Islands (5.6), Nevada (5.4), Alaska (5.3), New York (4.9), Connecticut (4.8), Illinois (4.3), Rhode Island (4.3), Massachusetts (4.1), and New Mexico (4.1).
Texas (+24,492), Illinois (+13,692), Indiana (+4,728), Alabama (+2,914), and Massachusetts (+2,560) had the highest increases in initial claims for the week ended March 13, while Ohio (-12,987), West Virginia (-3,321), South Carolina (-2,711), Mississippi (-2117), and New York had the highest declines (-935).
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