👀👀👉US Department of Labor Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims
The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims dropped to 191,000, down 27,000 from the prior week's revised 218,000, marking the lowest since September 24, 2022. The 4-week moving average fell to 214,750, a decrease of 9,500. The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate held steady at 1.3% for the week ending November 22, with insured unemployment at 1,939,000, down 4,000.
Unadjusted initial claims totaled 197,221, a sharp decline of 49,419 (-20.0%) from the previous week. The unadjusted insured unemployment rate dropped to 1.1%, with 1,698,312 people, down 81,054 (-4.6%). Compared to the prior year, unadjusted initial claims exceeded 2024's 211,226 for the same week.
Initial claims by former federal civilian employees were 1,125 (down 599), and by newly discharged veterans 290 (down 30) for the week ending November 22. Total continued weeks claimed across all programs reached 1,822,491 for the week ending November 15, up 56,776 from the prior week but above 2024's 1,751,491. No states triggered Extended Benefits.
States with the highest insured unemployment rates (week ending November 15) included New Jersey and Washington at 2.3%, California and Massachusetts at 2.0%. Largest initial claims increases (week ending November 22) were in California (+7,897), Illinois (+2,845), and Pennsylvania (+2,472); decreases led by Kentucky (-1,107).