Moreover, DOL stated that, “the advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 27 was 3,734,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 21, 2020 when it was 3,094,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 44,000 from 3,794,000 to 3,750,000.” Relative to last week’s revised average, the 4-week moving average decreased by 105,750 to 3,862,000. The prior week’s average was revised down by 10,750 from 3,978,500 to 3,967,750.

UNADJUSTED DATA

Based on the unadjusted advance estimate, there were 740,787 actual initial claims under state programs in the week ending April 3, an increase of 18,172 (or 2.5%) from the previous week. The seasonal factors anticipated a rise of 2,208 (or 0.3%) from the previous week. Furthermore, for the week ending April 3, 53 states observed 151,752 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

During the week ending March 27, the advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate fell to 2.8% relative to the previous week, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point. The advance unadjusted number of persons claiming UI benefits in state programs fell by 67,664 (or -1.7%) to 4,031,531 from a week earlier. The seasonal factors had anticipated a decrease of 51,374 (or -1.3%) from the previous week.

A total of 18,164,588 persons claimed benefits in all programs for the week ended March 20, a decline of 50,862 compared to the prior week.

Extended Benefits, during the week ending March 20, 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 27^th of March, 1,181 former Federal civilian employees claimed for UI benefits, a rise of 21 relative to the previous week, whereas 558 newly discharged veterans (-16) claimed for benefits.

However, for the week ending the 20^th of March, 17,125 former Federal civilian employees claimed for UI benefits, a fall of 1,342 relative to the previous week, whereas 7,985 newly discharged veterans (+10) claimed for benefits.

DOL noted that, “during the week ending March 20, 50 states reported 7,553,628 continued weekly claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 51 states reported 5,633,595 continued claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.”

In the week ending March 20, Puerto Rico observed the highest insured unemployment rate of 6.0% followed by the Virgin Islands (5.6), Nevada (5.3), Alaska (5.0), Pennsylvania (5.0), Connecticut (4.6), New York (4.1), Rhode Island (3.9), Illinois (3.8), and California (3.7).

Kentucky (+16,100), Georgia (+14,493), Virginia (+10,684), California (+10,408), and New York (+8,557) had the highest increases in initial claims for the week ended March 27, while Ohio (-14,879), Massachusetts (-12,001), Indiana (-3,785), Florida (-1,633), and Michigan (-1,622).