Statistics released this morning by the U.S. Department of Labor may indicate at least some positive movement in the economic recovery from Covid-19.
New claims for unemployment insurance benefits filed during the week ending Aug. 29 were down by just under 13% from what was recorded during the previous week.
Seasonally adjusted initial claims came to 881,000, a decrease of 130,000 from the previous week. The previous week’s level was 1,011,000. The 4-week moving average was 991,750, a decrease of 77,500 from the previous week’s revised average.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,051 in the week ending Aug. 22, a decrease of 94 from the prior week. There were 802 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 228 from the preceding week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Aug. 15 were in: Hawaii, 18.6%; Nevada, 16.4%; California, 16.3%; Puerto Rico, 16.1%; New York, 15.2%; Connecticut, 14%; Louisiana, 13.3%; Georgia, 12.6%; the Virgin Islands, 11.8%; District of Columbia, 11.7%; and Massachusetts, 11.7%.
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Aug. 22 were in: California, up 6,562; Illinois, up 3,856; Pennsylvania, up 1,926; Kansas, up 1,061; and Rhode Island, up 503.
The largest decreases were in: Florida, down 21,127; Texas, down 9,248; New Jersey, down 5,235; Virginia, down 3,715; and North Carolina, down 3,708.
Connecticut reported a drop of 858 new claims to 5,411 filed, down from the previous week”™s 6,269 claims. New York’s number of new claims went up by 672 to 63,355 from the previous week”™s 62,683.
