Washington, DC….In the week ending March 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 215,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since January 27, 1973 when it was 214,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 2,000 from 229,000 to 227,000. The 4-week moving average was 224,500, a decrease of 500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 223,750 to 225,000.

Claims taking procedures in Puerto Rico and in the Virgin Islands have still not returned to normal.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.3 percent for the week ending March 17, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 17 was 1,871,000, an increase of 35,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 8,000 from 1,828,000 to 1,836,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,861,500, a decrease of 12,750 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since January 5, 1974 when it was 1,838,500. The previous week’s average was revised down by 6,250 from 1,880,500 to 1,874,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 192,440 in the week ending March 24, a decrease of 5,611 (or -2.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 5,218 (or 2.6 percent) from the previous week. There were 228,269 initial claims in the comparable week in 2017.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent during the week ending March 17, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,106,576, a decrease of 1,498 (or -0.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 40,399 (or -1.9 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.6 percent and the volume was 2,283,882.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending March 10 was 2,140,845, a decrease of 87,182 from the previous week. There were 2,322,025 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2017.

Extended benefits were payable in Alaska and the Virgin Islands during week ending March 10.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 568 in the week ending March 17, a decrease of 91 from the prior week. There were 644 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 17 from the preceding week.

There were 10,462 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 10, a decrease of 1,574 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 8,248, an increase of 376 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 10 were in the Virgin Islands (6.4), Alaska (3.4), New Jersey (2.9), Connecticut (2.8), Puerto Rico (2.7), Montana (2.5), Rhode Island (2.5), Massachusetts (2.4), California (2.3), and Illinois (2.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 17 were in New York (+1,218), New Jersey (+647), Connecticut (+540), Pennsylvania (+439), and Vermont (+296), while the largest decreases were in California (-2,425), Texas (-1,011), Georgia (-866), Michigan (-756), and Illinois (-480).n