Connect with DOL at News Release https://blog.dol.gov TRANSMISSION OF MATERIALS IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL 8:30 A.M. (Eastern) Thursday, October 22, 2020 TECHNICAL NOTE: California has completed its pause in processing of initial claims and has resumed reporting actual unemployment insurance claims data based on their weekly claims activity. This News Release reflects actual counts for California for the current week and revisions to the two prior weeks. The revised reports for California are available at: https:// oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims.asp UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending October 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 787,000, a decrease of 55,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 56,000 from 898,000 to 842,000. The 4-week moving average was 811,250, a decrease of 21,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 33,500 from 866,250 to 832,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.7 percent for the week ending October 10, a decrease of 0.7 percentage point from the previous week's revised rate. The previous week's rate was revised down by 0.4 from 6.8 to 6.4 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 10 was 8,373,000, a decrease of 1,024,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 621,000 from 10,018,000 to 9,397,000. The 4-week moving average was 10,085,750, a decrease of 1,093,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 302,500 from 11,481,750 to 11,179,250. 1 UNADJUSTED DATA The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 756,617 in the week ending October 17, a decrease of 73,125 (or -8.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 18,362 (or -2.2 percent) from the previous week. There were 186,748 initial claims in the comparable week in 2019. In addition, for the week ending October 17, 53 states reported 345,440 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.5 percent during the week ending October 10, a decrease of 0.6 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 7,992,238, a decrease of 1,018,737 (or -11.3 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 6,014 (or 0.1 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.0 percent and the volume was 1,386,868. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending October 3 was 23,150,427, a decrease of 1,046,493 from the previous week. There were 1,393,973 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2019. During the week ending October 3, Extended Benefits were available in the following 44 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, the Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. 2 Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,519 in the week ending October 10, an increase of 51 from the prior week. There were 898 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 4 from the preceding week. There were 11,930 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending October 3, a decrease of 229 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 13,821, a decrease of 30 from the prior week. During the week ending Oct 3, 51 states reported 10,232,853 individuals claiming Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 50 states reported 3,296,156 individuals claiming Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending October 3 were in Hawaii (14.9), California (11.5), Nevada (11.3), Georgia (9.3), Puerto Rico (9.3), Louisiana (8.8), District of Columbia (8.4), New Mexico (7.8), New York (7.7), and Illinois (7.6). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending October 10 were in California (+27,870), Illinois (+11,261), Massachusetts (+10,481), Georgia (+9,292), and Indiana (+7,840), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-2,615), North Carolina (-2,362), Virginia (-1,733), Montana (-579), and Mississippi (-375). 3 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA FOR REGULAR STATE PROGRAMS WEEK ENDING October 17 October 10 Change October 3 Prior Year1 Initial Claims (SA) 787,000 842,000 -55,000 767,000 213,000 Initial Claims (NSA) 756,617 829,742 -73,125 731,249 186,748 4-Wk Moving Average (SA) 811,250 832,750 -21,500 838,750 215,250 WEEK ENDING October 10 October 3 Change September 26 Prior Year1 Insured Unemployment (SA) 8,373,000 9,397,000 -1,024,000 10,594,000 1,691,000 Insured Unemployment (NSA) 7,992,238 9,010,975 -1,018,737 10,230,506 1,386,868 4-Wk Moving Average (SA) 10,085,750 11,179,250 -1,093,500 12,016,750 1,686,250 Insured Unemployment Rate (SA)2 5.7% 6.4% -0.7 7.2% 1.2% Insured Unemployment Rate (NSA)2 5.5% 6.1% -0.6 7.0% 1.0% INITIAL CLAIMS FILED IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED) WEEK ENDING October 17 October 10 Change October 3 Pandemic Unemployment 345,440 337,228 +8,212 378,916 Assistance WEEK ENDING October 10 October 3 Change Prior Year1 Federal Employees (UCFE) 1,519 1,468 +51 833 Newly Discharged Veterans (UCX) 898 902 -4 558 PERSONS CLAIMING UI BENEFITS IN ALL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED) WEEK ENDING October 3 September 26 Change Prior Year1 Regular State 8,952,488 10,172,332 -1,219,844 1,366,996 Federal Employees 11,930 12,159 -229 6,577 Newly Discharged Veterans 13,821 13,851 -30 5,509 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance3 10,232,853 10,658,673 -425,820 NA Pandemic Emergency UC4 3,296,156 2,786,333 +509,823 NA Extended Benefits5 445,085 354,658 +90,427 0 State Additional Benefits6 2,728 2,386 +342 5,327 STC / Workshare 7 195,366 196,528 -1,162 9,564 TOTAL8 23,150,427 24,196,920 -1,046,493 1,393,973 FOOTNOTES SA - Seasonally Adjusted Data, NSA - Not Seasonally Adjusted Data 1. Prior year is comparable to most recent data. 2. Most recent week used covered employment of 146,534,375 as denominator. 3. Information on the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program can be found in UIPL 16-20: PUA Program information 4. Information on the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program can be found in Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) 17-20: PEUC Program information 5. Information on the EB program can be found here: EB Program information 6. 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 7. Information on STC/Worksharing can be found starting on page 4-8 of the following link: Extensions and Special Programs PDF 8. Totals include PUA Unemployment for the appropriate corresponding week. 4 Advance State Claims - Not Seasonally Adjusted Initial Claims Filed During Week Ended October 17 Insured Unemployment For Week Ended October 10 STATE Advance Prior Wk Change Advance Prior Wk Change Alabama 7,401 8,581 -1,180 38,921 27,063 11,858 Alaska 4,991 5,708 -717 19,545 20,264 -719 Arizona 9,056 7,925 1,131 135,608 151,436 -15,828 Arkansas 3,714 5,719 -2,005 25,685 32,303 -6,618 California 158,877 176,083 -17,206 1,866,371 2,011,273 -144,902 Colorado 5,936 6,406 -470 113,737 124,333 -10,596 Connecticut 4,389 4,734 -345 96,518 121,369 -24,851 Delaware 1,612 2,010 -398 20,545 21,355 -810 District of Columbia 1,388 1,912 -524 43,957 49,067 -5,110 Florida 35,960 47,904 -11,944 232,338 300,115 -67,777 Georgia 44,035 54,166 -10,131 369,339 409,602 -40,263 Hawaii 5,319 4,873 446 78,581 92,563 -13,982 Idaho 3,081 3,519 -438 7,372 8,386 -1,014 Illinois 47,018 47,528 -510 379,397 447,060 -67,663 Indiana 15,941 17,916 -1,975 109,669 118,930 -9,261 Iowa 4,662 4,192 470 41,967 46,409 -4,442 Kansas 17,995 14,537 3,458 56,179 44,579 11,600 Kentucky 5,730 5,969 -239 72,900 80,589 -7,689 Louisiana 11,969 13,577 -1,608 137,663 165,320 -27,657 Maine 1,270 1,549 -279 15,407 19,723 -4,316 Maryland 10,812 12,347 -1,535 93,680 115,445 -21,765 Massachusetts 44,518 39,962 4,556 246,221 268,942 -22,721 Michigan 5,610 15,084 -9,474 232,109 301,296 -69,187 Minnesota 9,941 9,340 601 127,207 138,673 -11,466 Mississippi 3,047 3,657 -610 47,107 56,309 -9,202 Missouri 7,792 10,522 -2,730 54,200 60,725 -6,525 Montana 2,342 2,893 -551 15,400 17,794 -2,394 Nebraska 2,827 3,243 -416 13,902 16,461 -2,559 Nevada 10,441 8,964 1,477 129,296 157,205 -27,909 New Hampshire 1,870 2,562 -692 27,720 30,234 -2,514 New Jersey 27,654 29,031 -1,377 213,793 249,076 -35,283 New Mexico 4,423 4,798 -375 57,473 62,854 -5,381 New York 56,483 66,385 -9,902 612,162 723,770 -111,608 North Carolina 11,030 13,172 -2,142 96,572 108,833 -12,261 North Dakota 1,116 1,045 71 9,481 9,107 374 Ohio 16,638 20,131 -3,493 174,604 289,227 -114,623