Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Higher in the Week Ending May 14, 2022

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 218,000 Americans (seasonally adjusted) made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, May 14, 2022. This is an increase of 21,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 199,500—an increase of 8,250 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (known as continuing claims) during the week ending May 7, 2022, was 1,317,000—a decrease of 25,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since December 27, 1969, when it was 1,304,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,362,250—a decrease of 22,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since January 24, 1970, when it was 1,361,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 0.9% for the week ending May 7, 2022, a decrease of 0.1% from the previous week’s unrevised rate.