Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Rise Slightly

The U.S. Department of Labor today released the latest unemployment insurance weekly claims report.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending May 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 209,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 211,000 to 212,000. The 4-week moving average was 202,500, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 203,750 to 204,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending May 9, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 9 was 1,782,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 6,000 from 1,782,000 to 1,776,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,773,000, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 1,500 from 1,781,000 to 1,779,500.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 185,625 in the week ending May 16, a decrease of 5,826 (or -3.0 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 3,385 (or -1.8 percent) from the previous week. There were 200,637 initial claims in the comparable week in 2025. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1 percent during the week ending May 9, unchanged from the prior week.

The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 1,678,750, a decrease of 10,658 (or -0.6 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 15,988 (or -0.9 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.2 percent and the volume was 1,779,686.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending May 2 was 1,719,146, a decrease of 38,104 from the previous week. There were 1,810,859 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2025.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending May 2.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 424 in the week ending May 9, an increase of 32 from the prior week. There were 395 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 12 from the preceding week.

There were 7,710 continued weeks claimed filed by former Federal civilian employees the week ending May 2, a decrease of 110 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 4,412, a decrease of 5 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 2 were in New Jersey (2.2), Washington (2.1), California (2.0), Massachusetts (2.0), Rhode Island (1.8), Oregon (1.7), Puerto Rico (1.7), Nevada (1.6), New York (1.6), and Illinois (1.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 9 were in Florida (+2,591), Texas (+2,111), Kentucky (+1,739), Pennsylvania (+1,108), and New York (+1,096), while the largest decreases were in California (-1,232), Michigan (-733), New Hampshire (-527), Rhode Island (-190), and North Dakota (-172).