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News Release Connect with DOL at https://blog.dol.gov TRANSMISSION OF MATERIALS IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL 8:30 A.M. (Eastern) Thursday, March 26, 2020 COVID-19 Impact During the week ending March 21, the increase in initial claims are due to the impacts of the COVID-19 virus. Nearly every state providing comments cited the COVID-19 virus impacts. States continued to cite services industries broadly, particularly accommodation and food services. Additional industries heavily cited for the increases included the health care and social assistance, arts, entertainment and recreation, transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing industries. UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending March 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 3,283,000, an increase of 3,001,000 from the previous week's revised level. This marks the highest level of seasonally adjusted initial claims in the history of the seasonally adjusted series. The previous high was 695,000 in October of 1982. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 281,000 to 282,000. The 4-week moving average was 998,250, an increase of 765,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 232,250 to 232,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending March 14, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 14 was 1,803,000, an increase of 101,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the highest level for insured unemployment since April 14, 2018 when it was 1,824,000. The previous week's level was revised up 1,000 from 1,701,000 to 1,702,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,731,000, an increase of 27,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 1,703,250 to 1,703,500. 1 UNADJUSTED DATA The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 2,898,450 in the week ending March 21, an increase of 2,647,034 (or 1,052.9 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 2,815 (or -1.1 percent) from the previous week. There were 190,023 initial claims in the comparable week in 2019. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.4 percent during the week ending March 14, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,097,193, an increase of 119,945 (or 6.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 1,702 (or 0.1 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.4 percent and the volume was 2,009,317. 2 The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending March 7 was 2,006,363, a decrease of 80,856 from the previous week. There were 2,039,322 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2019. No state was triggered "on" the Extended Benefits program during the week ending March 7. Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 573 in the week ending March 14, an increase of 20 from the prior week. There were 436 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 71 from the preceding week. There were 9,644 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 7, a decrease of 852 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 5,207, a decrease of 145 from the prior week. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 7 were in Alaska (2.8), New Jersey (2.6), Connecticut (2.4), Rhode Island (2.3), West Virginia (2.3), Illinois (2.2), Minnesota (2.2), Montana (2.2), Pennsylvania (2.2), and Puerto Rico (2.2). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 14 were in California (+14,221), Washington (+7,624), Nevada (+4,047), Pennsylvania (+3,212), and Massachusetts (+2,737), while the largest decreases were in Arkansas (-461), Alabama (-341), Puerto Rico (-171), West Virginia (-168), and Maine (-81). 3 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA FOR REGULAR STATE PROGRAMS WEEK ENDING Initial Claims (SA) Initial Claims (NSA) 4-Wk Moving Average (SA) March 21 3,283,000 2,898,450 998,250 March 14 282,000 251,416 232,500 Change +3,001,000 +2,647,034 +765,750 March 7 211,000 200,382 215,750 Prior Year1 215,000 190,023 219,500 WEEK ENDING March 14 March 7 Change February 29 Prior Year1 Insured Unemployment (SA) Insured Unemployment (NSA) 4-Wk Moving Average (SA) Insured Unemployment Rate (SA)2 Insured Unemployment Rate (NSA)2 1,803,000 2,097,193 1,731,000 1.2% 1.4% 1,702,000 1,977,248 1,703,500 1.2% 1.4% +101,000 +119,945 +27,500 0.0 0.0 1,699,000 2,057,280 1,710,250 1.2% 1.4% 1,732,000 2,009,317 1,733,750 1.2% 1.4% INITIAL CLAIMS FILED IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED) WEEK ENDING Federal Employees (UCFE) Newly Discharged Veterans (UCX) March 14 573 436 March 7 553 507 Change +20 -71 Prior Year1 579 507 PERSONS CLAIMING UI BENEFITS IN ALL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED) WEEK ENDING Regular State Federal Employees Newly Discharged Veterans Extended Benefits3 State Additional Benefits4 STC / Workshare 5 TOTAL March 7 1,973,560 9,644 5,207 0 5,584 12,368 2,006,363 February 29 2,054,152 10,496 5,352 0 5,641 11,578 2,087,219 Change -80,592 -852 -145 0 -57 +790 -80,856 Prior Year1 2,005,466 10,705 6,135 1 6,063 10,952 2,039,322 FOOTNOTES SA - Seasonally Adjusted Data, NSA - Not Seasonally Adjusted Data 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Prior year is comparable to most recent data. Most recent week used covered employment of 145,230,691 as denominator. Information on the EB program can be found here: EB Program information Some states maintain additional benefit programs for those claimants who exhaust regular benefits, and when applicable, extended benefits. Information on states that participate, and the extent of benefits paid, can be found starting on page 4-4 of this link: Extensions and Special Programs PDF Information on STC/Worksharing can be found starting on page 4-8 of the following link: Extensions and Special Programs PDF 4 Advance State Claims - Not Seasonally Adjusted STATE Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio* Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania* Puerto Rico* Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming US Total Initial Claims Filed During Week Ended March 21 Advance Prior Wk Change 9,490 1,819 7,671 8,225 1,120 7,105 29,268 3,844 25,424 8,958 1,382 7,576 186,809 57,606 129,203 19,429 2,321 17,108 25,098 3,440 21,658 10,720 472 10,248 13,473 1,213 12,260 74,021 6,463 67,558 11,746 5,445 6,301 8,904 1,589 7,315 13,314 1,031 12,283 114,663 10,870 103,793 61,635 2,596 59,039 41,890 2,229 39,661 23,687 1,755 21,932 48,847 2,785 46,062 72,620 2,255 70,365 21,197 634 20,563 41,882 3,864 38,018 147,995 7,449 140,546 129,298 5,338 123,960 116,438 4,010 112,428 6,723 1,147 5,576 40,508 4,016 36,492 14,704 817 13,887 15,668 795 14,873 93,036 6,356 86,680 21,878 642 21236 155,454 9,467 145,987 17,187 869 16,318 80,334 14,272 66,062 93,587 3,533 90,054 5,968 415 5,553 187,784 7,046 180,738 17,720 1,836 15,884 22,824 4,269 18,555 378,908 15,439 363,469 1,471 1,172 299 35,436 1,108 34,328 31,064 2,093 28,971 1,703 190 1513 39,096 2,702 36,394 155,657 16,176 139,481 1,314 1,305 9 3,667 659 3,008 58 44 14 46,885 2,706 44,179 133,478 14,240 119,238 3,435 865 2,570 50,957 5,190 45,767 2,339 517 1,822 2,898,450 251,416 2,647,034 Insured Unemployment For Week Ended March 14 Advance Prior Wk Change 11,070 13,070 -2,000 8,407 8,522 -115 16,076 17,595 -1,519 9,851 11,514 -1,663 430,335 351,344 78,991 21,987 21,260 727 45,284 39,786 5,498 5,627 5,310 317 7,093 6,746 347 29,612 32,244 -2,632 26,644 25,352 1,292 6,700 6,171 529 7,562 9,336 -1,774 125,914 130,325 -4,411 22,440 21,473 967 27,172 27,816 -644 10,245 9,771 474 21,885 22,940 -1,055 12,052 13,987 -1,935 8,620 8,451 169 26,072 27,046 -974 82,475 74,336 8,139 78,824 75,757 3,067 70,530 61,781 8,749 5,714 7,098 -1,384 22,188 22,381 -193 10,054 10,112 -58 4,603 5,076 -473 20,852 19,475 1,377 3,731 3,909 -178 108,091 104,283 3,808 9,707 9,566 141 168,921 158,268 10,653 19,377 19,683 -306 7,165 6,349 816 68,743 68,516 227 15,863 16,482 -619 30,488 29,002 1,486 128,932 128,842 90 17,198 18,704 -1,506 11,011 10,692 319 14,780 15,032 -252 2,657 2,870 -213 17,235 18,450 -1,215 126,955 127,905 -950 10,324 10,701 -377 5,055 4,896 159 588 592 -4 22,291 21,336 955 67,415 55,588 11,827 16,571 15,394 1,177 44,278 40,738 3,540 3,929 3,375 554 2,097,193 1,977,248 119,945 Note: Advance claims are not directly comparable to claims reported in prior weeks. Advance claims are reported by the state liable for paying the unemployment compensation, whereas previous weeks reported claims reflect claimants by state of residence. In addition, claims reported as "workshare equivalent" in the previous week are added to the advance claims as a proxy for the current week's "workshare equivalent" activity. *Denotes state estimate. 5 Seasonally Adjusted US Weekly UI Claims (in thousands) Week Ending March 16, 2019 March 23, 2019 March 30, 2019 April 6, 2019 April 13, 2019 April 20, 2019 April 27, 2019 May 4, 2019 May 11, 2019 May 18, 2019 May 25, 2019 June 1, 2019 June 8, 2019 June 15, 2019 June 22, 2019 June 29, 2019 July 6, 2019 July 13, 2019 July 20, 2019 July 27, 2019 August 3, 2019 August 10, 2019 August 17, 2019 August 24, 2019 August 31, 2019 September 7, 2019 September 14, 2019 September 21, 2019 September 28, 2019 October 5, 2019 October 12, 2019 October 19, 2019 October 26, 2019 November 2, 2019 November 9, 2019 November 16, 2019 November 23, 2019 November 30, 2019 December 7, 2019 December 14, 2019 December 21, 2019 December 28, 2019 January 4, 2020 January 11, 2020 January 18, 2020 January 25, 2020 February 1, 2020 February 8, 2020 February 15, 2020 February 22, 2020 February 29, 2020 March 7, 2020 March 14, 2020 March 21, 2020 Initial Claims 219 215 211 203 203 226 230 225 217 213 218 220 220 219 224 222 211 217 211 216 214 218 215 215 219 208 211 215 218 212 218 213 217 212 222 223 211 206 237 229 218 220 212 207 220 212 201 204 215 220 217 211 282 3,283 Change from Prior Week -5 -4 -4 -8 0 23 4 -5 -8 -4 5 2 0 -1 5 -2 -11 6 -6 5 -2 4 -3 0 4 -11 3 4 3 -6 6 -5 4 -5 10 1 -12 -5 31 -8 -11 2 -8 -5 13 -8 -11 3 11 5 -3 -6 71 3,001 Change from Insured Prior Unemployment Week 1,732 -2 1,719 -13 1,705 -14 1,667 -38 1,659 -8 1,682 23 1,684 2 1,678 -6 1,683 5 1,675 -8 1,695 20 1,700 5 1,677 -23 1,692 15 1,699 7 1,717 18 1,694 -23 1,682 -12 1,699 17 1,692 -7 1,719 27 1,687 -32 1,699 12 1,683 -16 1,683 0 1,675 -8 1,672 -3 1,667 -5 1,698 31 1,689 -9 1,691 2 1,700 9 1,695 -5 1,702 7 1,697 -5 1,665 -32 1,697 32 1,700 3 1,725 25 1,716 -9 1,728 12 1,775 47 1,759 -16 1,735 -24 1,704 -31 1,753 49 1,678 -75 1,729 51 1,693 -36 1,720 27 1,699 -21 1,702 3 1,803 101 4-Week Average 221.75 219.50 217.25 212.00 208.00 210.75 215.50 221.00 224.50 221.25 218.25 217.00 217.75 219.25 220.75 221.25 219.00 218.50 215.25 213.75 214.50 214.75 215.75 215.50 216.75 214.25 213.25 213.25 213.00 214.00 215.75 215.25 215.00 215.00 216.00 218.50 217.00 215.50 219.25 220.75 222.50 226.00 219.75 214.25 214.75 212.75 210.00 209.25 208.00 210.00 214.00 215.75 232.50 998.25 6 4-Week Average 1,733.75 1,728.75 1,722.50 1,705.75 1,687.50 1,678.25 1,673.00 1,675.75 1,681.75 1,680.00 1,682.75 1,688.25 1,686.75 1,691.00 1,692.00 1,696.25 1,700.50 1,698.00 1,698.00 1,691.75 1,698.00 1,699.25 1,699.25 1,697.00 1,688.00 1,685.00 1,678.25 1,674.25 1,678.00 1,681.50 1,686.25 1,694.50 1,693.75 1,697.00 1,698.50 1,689.75 1,690.25 1,689.75 1,696.75 1,709.50 1,717.25 1,736.00 1,744.50 1,749.25 1,743.25 1,737.75 1,717.50 1,716.00 1,713.25 1,705.00 1,710.25 1,703.50 1,731.00 IUR 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 INITIAL CLAIMS FILED DURING WEEK ENDED MARCH 14 CHANGE FROM STATE NAME Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Totals LAST STATE WEEK 1819 -341 1120 305 3844 487 1382 -461 57606 14221 2321 456 3440 913 472 -46 1213 742 6463 1138 5445 876 1589 314 1031 93 10870 2143 2596 373 2229 8 1755 390 2785 322 2255 557 634 -81 3864 1189 7449 2737 5338 188 4010 522 1147 268 4016 1022 817 103 795 294 6356 4047 642 147 9467 1471 869 179 14272 237 3533 958 415 -8 7046 501 1836 267 4269 115 15439 3212 1172 -171 1108 408 2093 204 190 5 2702 670 16176 1821 1305 290 659 213 44 -20 2706 179 14240 7624 865 -168 5190 138 517 -17 251416 51034 YEAR AGO UCFE 1 UCX 1 -330 6 3 165 6 0 456 1 2 -60 2 3 16478 127 57 815 14 19 619 2 5 12 0 1 783 11 3 662 20 26 1058 23 14 434 2 4 -12 10 1 2883 5 3 508 3 3 -119 4 1 107 0 0 680 3 3 594 5 2 15 0 1 1271 13 4 3095 10 7 182 14 12 781 4 4 12 5 2 783 3 1 43 20 0 7 6 0 4068 7 1 124 0 0 1614 27 23 192 2 4 1357 14 18 865 13 20 127 2 0 597 7 12 -833 8 5 563 20 6 2361 70 26 -3 3 4 221 2 3 16 3 2 47 2 0 454 4 4 4596 34 89 391 5 3 18 0 1 24 0 0 496 5 8 8453 7 23 25 0 3 -809 5 0 195 14 0 57081 573 436 INSURED UNEMPLOYMENT FOR WEEK ENDED MARCH 7 CHANGE FROM ALL PROGRAMS EXCLUDING LAST YEAR RAILROAD 1 1 WEEK AGO UCFE UCX STATE (%) 2 RETIREMENT 13070 0.7 -2707 -1302 58 46 13174 8522 2.8 256 -412 127 9 8658 17595 0.6 2 -1493 183 30 17808 11514 1.0 -104 541 51 31 11596 351344 2.0 -27520 -20962 2225 1003 354572 21260 0.8 -1648 71 219 122 21601 39786 2.4 -852 -1282 45 62 39893 5310 1.2 -170 -425 13 10 5333 6746 1.2 -46 -513 186 5 6937 32244 0.4 -18 -2507 148 91 32483 25352 0.6 273 670 180 123 25655 6171 1.0 127 -431 62 60 6293 9336 1.3 -831 -361 259 12 9607 130325 2.2 -6071 4863 369 148 130842 21473 0.7 -1113 791 25 25 21523 27816 1.8 -1608 -2518 57 22 27895 9771 0.7 -1232 -1422 24 21 9816 22940 1.2 170 2795 108 127 23175 13987 0.7 -212 -281 40 14 14041 8451 1.4 -288 -42 45 6 8502 27046 1.1 -1022 -3571 175 74 27295 74336 2.1 -1216 -5238 136 91 74563 75757 1.8 -1904 -327 198 88 76043 61781 2.2 -986 3247 122 62 61965 7098 0.6 -318 -258 72 17 7187 22381 0.8 -2844 -3410 83 27 22491 10112 2.2 -670 -1489 434 19 10565 5076 0.5 -505 -1995 18 9 5103 19475 1.4 -375 -113 137 43 19655 3909 0.6 -566 -575 8 3 3920 104283 2.6 -3363 -3045 224 265 104772 9566 1.2 -279 -56 212 35 9813 158268 1.7 -3624 1292 291 316 158875 19683 0.4 -513 1070 114 85 19882 6349 1.5 -194 188 16 3 6368 68516 1.3 -4607 1130 106 117 68739 16482 1.1 -585 2955 52 48 16582 29002 1.5 -515 -2987 557 51 29610 128842 2.2 -8089 -1259 483 199 129524 18704 2.2 47 2896 179 72 18955 10692 2.3 -438 -1108 15 6 10713 15032 0.7 -309 596 39 56 15127 2870 0.7 -189 -442 55 4 2929 18450 0.6 -585 297 82 49 18581 127905 1.0 2653 14449 418 838 129161 10701 0.7 -376 -57 161 14 10876 4896 1.6 -323 -323 11 1 4908 592 1.7 6 46 4 0 596 21336 0.6 -1378 -591 169 179 21684 55588 1.7 -925 -7301 450 400 56438 15394 2.3 -716 1862 42 38 15474 40738 1.4 -1599 -3209 96 28 40862 3375 1.3 -133 446 61 3 3439 1977248 1.4 -80032 -31100 9644 5207 1992099 Figures appearing in columns showing over-the-week changes reflect all revisions in data for prior week submitted by state agencies. 1. The Unemployment Compensation program for Federal Employees (UCFE) and the Unemployment Compensation for Ex-servicemembers (UCX) exclude claims filed jointly under other programs to avoid duplication. 2. Rate is not seasonally adjusted. The source of U.S. total covered employment is BLS. 7 UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED MARCH 14, 2020 STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 State CA WA Change +14,221 +7,624 NV PA +4,047 +3,212 MA IL +2,737 +2,143 TX +1,821 NJ +1,471 MD FL +1,189 +1,138 MO +1,022 State Supplied Comment Layoffs in the service industry. Layoffs in the transportation and warehousing, real estate rental and leasing, arts, entertainment and recreation, accommodation and food services, and service industries. Increase in layoffs are due to the COVID-19 virus. Layoffs in the accommodation and food services, transportation and warehousing, and educational service industries. Increase in layoffs are due to the COVID-19 virus. Layoffs in the construction, accommodation and food services, and administrative, support, waste management, and remediation services industries. Layoffs in the transportation and warehousing, administrative, support, waste management, and remediation services, accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance, and arts, entertainment and recreation industries. Layoffs in the accommodation and food services, transportation and warehousing, and educational service industries. Increase due to the COVID-19 virus. No comment. Layoffs in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting, manufacturing, wholesale trade, and retail trade industries. Layoffs in the transportation and warehousing, accommodation and food services, and administrative, support, waste management, and remediation services industries. STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 State None Change State Supplied Comment 8 TECHNICAL NOTES This news release presents the weekly unemployment insurance (UI) claims reported by each state's unemployment insurance program offices. These claims may be used for monitoring workload volume, assessing state program operations and for assessing labor market conditions. States initially report claims directly taken by the state liable for the benefit payments, regardless of where the claimant who filed the claim resided. These are the basis for the advance initial claims and continued claims reported each week. These data come from ETA 538, Advance Weekly Initial and Continued Claims Report. The following week initial claims and continued claims are revised based on a second reporting by states that reflect the claimants by state of residence. These data come from the ETA 539, Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data Report. A. Initial Claims An initial claim is a claim filed by an unemployed individual after a separation from an employer. The claimant requests a determination of basic eligibility for the UI program. When an initial claim is filed with a state, certain programmatic activities take place and these result in activity counts including the count of initial claims. The count of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance is a leading economic indicator because it is an indication of emerging labor market conditions in the country. However, these are weekly administrative data which are difficult to seasonally adjust, making the series subject to some volatility. B. Continued Weeks Claimed A person who has already filed an initial claim and who has experienced a week of unemployment then files a continued claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment. Continued claims are also referred to as insured unemployment. The count of U.S. continued weeks claimed is also a good indicator of labor market conditions. Continued claims reflect the current number of insured unemployed workers filing for UI benefits in the nation. While continued claims are not a leading indicator (they roughly coincide with economic cycles at their peaks and lag at cycle troughs), they provide confirming evidence of the direction of the U.S. economy. C. Seasonal Adjustments and Annual Revisions Over the course of a year, the weekly changes in the levels of initial claims and continued claims undergo regularly occurring fluctuations. These fluctuations may result from seasonal changes in weather, major holidays, the opening and closing of schools, or other similar events. Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each year, their influence on the level of a series can be tempered by adjusting for regular seasonal variation. These adjustments make trend and cycle developments easier to spot. At the beginning of each calendar year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) with a set of seasonal factors to apply to the unadjusted data during that year. Concurrent with the implementation and release of the new seasonal factors, ETA incorporates revisions to the UI claims historical series caused by updates to the unadjusted data. Weekly Claims Archives Weekly Claims Data U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The Department's Reasonable Accommodation Resource Center converts Departmental information and documents into alternative formats, which include Braille and large print. For alternative format requests, please contact the Department at (202) 693-7828 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (federal relay). U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Washington, D.C. 20210 Release Number: USDL 20-510-NAT Program Contacts: Kevin Stapleton: Media Contact: 9 (202) 693-3009 (202) 693-4676
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