Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending March 19, 2022

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 187,000 Americans made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, March 19, 2022. This is a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week’s revised level and the lowest level of initial claims since September 6, 1969, when it was 182,000. The 4-week moving average was 211,750—a decrease of 11,500 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (known as continuing claims) during the week ending March 12, 2022, was 1,350,000—a decrease of 67,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level since January 3, 1970, when it was 1,332,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,431,500—a decrease of 31,000 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since February 28, 1970, when it was 1,421,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.0% for the week ending March 12, 2022, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.