The U.S. Department of Labor released the Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report for the week ending May 30th. Weekly initial claims fell below 2 million for the first time since the week ending March 14th. Continuing claims, which lags initial jobless claims by one week, rose slightly to nearly 21.5 million in the week ending May 23rd. The data indicate workers are returning to work, albeit slowly, as economy reopens in phases.
In the week ending May 30th, the number of initial claims declined by 249,000 to a seasonally adjusted level of 1,877,000, compared to the revised previous week’s claims of 2,126,000. Weekly initial jobless claims have declined for the past nine straight weeks after it hit a record peak of 6.9 million in the week ending March 28th. The four-week moving average decreased to 2,284,000, from a revised average of 2,608,750 in the previous week. This week’s new claims brought the eleven-week total to nearly 42.6 million.
Meanwhile, the number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, known as continuing claims, rose slightly to 21,487,000 in the week ending May 23rd, after the first drop in the previous week. It was still below the highest point of 24.9 million in the week ending May 9th. The four-week moving average was 22,446,250, a decrease of 222,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate increased by 0.5 percentage point to 14.8% for the week ending May 23rd. The previous week’s rate was revised down by 0.2 percentage point from 14.5% to 14.3%.
The U.S. Department of Labor also released the advanced number of actual initial claims under state programs without seasonal adjustments. The unadjusted number of advanced initial claims totaled 1,603,000 in the week ending May 30th, a decrease of 314,604 from the previous week.
The chart below presents the top 10 states ranked by the number of advanced initial claims for the week ending May 30th. California, Florida and Georgia reported the most advanced initial claims. California led the way with 230,461 initial claims, followed by Florida with 206,494 initial claims and Georgia with 148,095 initial claims. Vermont, South Dakota, and Wyoming had the least advanced initial claims across all the states.
Compared to the previous week, Florida (+31,083), California (+27,199), and Mississippi (+89) were the only three states that reported the increases in advanced initial claims for the week ending May 30th. New York (-106,106), Michigan (-23,539), and Texas (-20,896) had the largest decreases in advanced initial claims.
