U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Drop 35k

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In the week ending July 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 353,000, a decrease of 35,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 388,000 and down 12.2% from the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 367,250, a decrease of 8,750 from the previous week's revised average of 376,000. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending July 14, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending July 7 were in the Virgin Islands (4.7), Puerto Rico (4.1), New Jersey (3.9), Pennsylvania (3.9), Connecticut (3.7), Alaska (3.7), Rhode Island (3.5), California (3.4), Wisconsin (3.4), and Oregon (3.4). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 14 were in California (+26,244), North Carolina (+11,948), Georgia (+8,372), Alabama (+4,148), and Oregon (+3,019), while the largest decreases were in New York (-10,794), Michigan (-7,453), Kentucky (-4,904), Pennsylvania (-4,186), and Ohio (-3,120). Note: “Insured rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL

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