US Weekly Jobless Claims Decreased in the Week Ending August 20, 2022

The US Department of Labor is reporting that, seasonally adjusted, an additional 243,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, August 20, 2022. This is a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised-lower level of 245,000. The 4-week moving average was 247,000—an increase of 1,500 from the previous week’s revised-lower average of 245,500.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (known as continuing claims) during the week ending August 13, 2022, was 1,415,000. This is a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised level of 1,437,000 to 1,434,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,424,750—an increase of 12,500 from the previous week’s revised-lower average of 1,412,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.0% for the week ending August 13, 2022, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.