July 09, 2020

The seasonally adjusted initial claims, advance estimate, fell to 1,314,000, a decrease of 99,000 for the week ending July 4 from the prior week’s revised level, according to the U.S. Department of Labour (DOL). The prior week’s level was revised to 1,413,000 from 1,427,000 down by 14,000. In comparison to the previous week’s average, the 4-week moving average was 1,437,250, a decrease of 63,000. Moreover, the preceding week’s average was revised by 3,500 from 1,503,750 to 1,500,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate stood at 12.4% for the week ending June 27, a 0.5% decline from the prior week’s revised rate. The preceding week’s rate was revised down by 0.3 percentage points from 13.2% to 12.9%. Moreover, DOL stated that, “the advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 27 was 18,062,000, a decrease of 698,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 530,000 from 19,290,000 to 18,760,000.” Relative to last week’s revised average, the 4-week moving average decreased by 636,000 to 19,085,500. Notably, there was a downward revision in the preceding week’s average by 132,500 from 19,854,000 to 19,721,500.

UNADJUSTED DATA

Based on the unadjusted advance estimate, there were 1,399,699 actual initial claims under state programs in the week ending July 4, a decline of 31,644 (or -2.2%) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had anticipated a rise of 73,475 (or 5.1%) from the previous week. Moreover, for the week ending July 4, 49 states observed 1,038,905 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

During the week ending June 27, the advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate stood at 11.5%, a 0.5% decrease relative to the previous week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs decreased 630,587 (or -3.6%) to 16,797,353 from a week earlier. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 18,760 (or 0.1%) from the previous week.

A total of 32,922,335 persons claimed benefits in all programs for the week ended June 20, an increase of 1,410,788 compared to the prior week.

Extended Benefits, during the week ending June 20, were accessible in the following 50 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, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

For the week ending June 27, 1,331 former Federal civilian employees claimed for UI benefits, a decrease of 268 relative to the previous week, whereas 1,021 newly discharged veterans (-175) claimed for benefits.

However, for the week ending June 20, 14,482 former Federal civilian employees claimed for UI benefits, a decrease of 163 relative to the previous week, whereas 13,107 newly discharged veterans (+470) claimed for benefits.

DOL noted that, “during the week ending June 20, 47 states reported 14,363,143 individuals claiming Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 41 states reported 850,461 individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits.”

In the week ending June 20, Puerto Rico observed the highest insured unemployment rates of 25.4% followed by Nevada (20.8), Hawaii (20.7), the Virgin Islands (17.5), New York (17.1), California (16.7), Louisiana (16.2), Massachusetts (15.6), Georgia (15.1), and Connecticut (15.0).

The states that experienced the highest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 27 were Michigan (+18,668), Indiana (+15,496), Texas (+7,046), Virginia (+6,662), and Kentucky (+5,794), while the largest decreases were in Oklahoma (-40,208), Florida (-11,313), Maryland (-9,926), Georgia (-8,240), and California (-7,132).

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