Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Move Higher in the Week Ending April 30, 2022

The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting that an additional 200,000 Americans (seasonally adjusted) made their initial filing for unemployment benefits during the week ending on Saturday, April 30, 2022. This is an increase of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The 4-week moving average was 188,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment (known as continuing claims) during the week ending April 23, 2022, was 1,384,000—a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since January 17, 1970, when it was 1,371,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,417,000—a decrease of 36,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since February 21, 1970, when it was 1,409,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.0% for the week ending April 23, 2022, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.