• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Down 26K

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In the week ending July 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 350,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 376,000 and down 14.6% from the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 376,500, a decrease of 9,750 from the previous week's revised average of 386,250. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending June 30, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending June 23 were in Puerto Rico (4.1), Alaska (3.9), Pennsylvania (3.8), Connecticut (3.5), California (3.4), New Jersey (3.4), Rhode Island (3.3), Illinois (3.1), Oregon (3.1), Nevada (3.0), and the Virgin Islands (3.0). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 30 were in New York (+4,473), Kentucky (+2,252), Michigan (+1,742), California (+1,045), and Oklahoma (+843), while the largest decreases were in Florida (-3,724), Texas (-2,196), Pennsylvania (-2,113), Massachusetts (-1,325), and Maryland (-806). Click on chart to enlarge: Note: “Insured rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL-BLS

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