• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Down 23k

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In the week ending October 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 369,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 392,000 and down 7.1% from the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 368,000, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 366,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent for the week ending October 13, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending October 6 were in Alaska (3.9), Puerto Rico (3.8), Virgin Islands (3.8), California (3.0), New Jersey (3.0), Pennsylvania (3.0), Oregon (2.8), Nevada (2.7), New York (2.6), Arkansas (2.5), Connecticut (2.5), Illinois (2.5), and North Carolina (2.5). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending October 13 were in California (+26,935), Florida (+3,947), Ohio (+1,936), Washington (+1,435), and Alaska (+1,383), while the largest decreases were in New York (-3,395), New Jersey (-1,311), Georgia (-1,285), Massachusetts (-1,141), and Kentucky (-982). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL-BLS

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