Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 per cent this month

Unemployment claims in America jumped by 55,000 in the week ending January 15 to total 286,000.

The prior week’s figure was raised by 1,000 points from 230,000 to 231,000. The four-week moving average was 231,000, an increase of 20,000 from the corrected average from the prior week.

The previous week’s average was up by 250 points from 210,750 to 211,000. The unadjusted advance number of actual first claims under state programmes amounted to 337,417 in the week ending January 15, down 83,418 (or -19.8 per cent) from the previous week.

Seasonal considerations predicted a 138,773 (or -33.0 per cent) decrease over the previous week. In the similar week in 2021, there were 937,313 initial claims. During the week ending January 8, the advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent, little changed from the previous week. 

Unemployment in-state programmes

The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in-state programs was 2,075,750, a 26,126 (or 1.3 percent) rise from the previous week. Seasonal considerations predicted a 57,330 (or -2.8 percent) decrease over the previous week. The rate was 3.9 per cent a year ago, and the volume was 5,479,170.

In the week ending January 1, there were 10,599 continuing weeks claims made by former Federal civilian employees, an increase of 980 from the previous week. The number of newly released veterans claiming benefits was 4,748, an increase of 197 from the previous week.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for the week ending January 8 was 1,635,000, up 84,000 from the previous week’s revised figure. The previous week’s figure was lowered by 8,000 points, from 1,559,000 to 1,551,000.

The four-week moving average was 1,664,250, a 55,250 decrease from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since April 27, 2019, when it was 1,663,500. 

Initial claims increased the most in California (+11,295), New York (+10,639), Texas (+10,437), Kentucky (+8,476), and Missouri (+7,768), while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts (-2,079), Connecticut (-1,437), Michigan (-1,158), New Hampshire (-424), and Rhode Island (-424).

For the week ending January 8, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 per cent, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The previous week’s average was lowered by 2,000 points, from 1,721,500 to 1,719,500.