August 21, 2020
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate stood at 10.2% for the week ending August 8, a 0.4 percentage points decline from the prior week’s unrevised rate. Moreover, DOL stated that, “advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 8 was 14,844,000, a decrease of 636,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 6,000 from 15,486,000 to 15,480,000.” Relative to last week’s revised average, the 4-week moving average decreased by 326,750 to 15,841,250. Notably, there was a downward revision in the preceding week’s average by 1,500 from 16,169,500 to 16,168,000.
UNADJUSTED DATA
Based on the unadjusted advance estimate, there were 891,510 actual initial claims under state programs in the week ending August 15, an increase of 52,776 (or 6.3%) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had anticipated a fall of 56,304 (or -6.7%) from the previous week. Furthermore, for the week ending August 15, 51 states observed 542,797 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
During the week ending August 8, the advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate stood at 9.8%, a 0.6 percentage point decrease relative to the previous week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs fell by 935,998 (or -6.2%) to 14,265,344 from a week earlier. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 325,080 (or -2.1%) from the prior week.
A total of 28,059,349 persons claimed benefits in all programs for the week ended August 1, a decrease of 197,601 compared to the prior week.
Extended Benefits, during the week ending August 1, were accessible in the following 52 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, the Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
For the week ending the 8th of August, 1,177 former Federal civilian employees claimed for UI benefits, an increase of 59 relative to the previous week, whereas 1031 newly discharged veterans (+129) claimed for benefits.
However, for the week ending the 1st of August, 14,614 former Federal civilian employees claimed for UI benefits, a decrease of 447 relative to the previous week, whereas 13,912 newly discharged veterans (-313) claimed for benefits.
DOL noted that, “during the week ending Aug 1, 49 states reported 11,224,774 individuals claiming Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 48 states reported 1,289,125 individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.”
In the week ending August 1, Nevada observed the highest insured unemployment rates of 24.2% followed by Puerto Rico (21.7), Hawaii (19.9), California (17.0), Louisiana (15.9), New York (15.3), Connecticut (14.0), the Virgin Islands (13.8), Georgia (13.0), and Massachusetts (12.8).
The state that experienced the highest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 8 were in Nevada (+4,028), Puerto Rico (+3,601), Kansas (+2,248), Hawaii (+247), and South Dakota (+198), while the largest decreases were in New York (-21,366), California (-19,534), Florida (-16,702), Georgia (-11,596), and Virginia (-10,653).
Analyst Certification -The views expressed in this research report accurately reflect the personal views of Mayberry Investments Limited Research Department about those issuer (s) or securities as at the date of this report. Each research analyst (s) also certify that no part of their compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendation (s) or view (s) expressed by that research analyst in this research report.
Company Disclosure -The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, however its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. You are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Mayberry may effect transactions or have positions in securities mentioned herein. In addition, employees of Mayberry may have positions and effect transactions in the securities mentioned herein