The number of people receiving unemployment insurance fell again for the week ending May 3 from the previous week’s numbers, down 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted figure of 2.68 million. That’s the lowest unemployment has been since December 1, 2007, when it was 2.64 million.
The 4-week moving average was 2,694,500, a decrease of 18,500 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 15, 2007 when it was 2,670,500.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2% for the week ending May 3, unchanged from the previous week's rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 297,000 for the week ending May 10. That’s down 24,000 from the previous week’s total. This is the lowest level for initial claims since May 12, 2007, when they were 297,000.
The actual number of initial unemployment claims under state programs was 269,689 for the week ending May 10. That’s down 19,059 from the previous week. That significantly beat analyst expectations, which had predicted an increase of 2,887.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 26 was 2,705,019, a decrease of 127,674 from the previous week. There were 4,835,833 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the same week in 2013.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 26 were in Alaska (4.6%), New Jersey (3.3%), Puerto Rico (3.2%), California (3.1%), Connecticut (3.0%), Rhode Island (3.0%), Pennsylvania (2.9%), Nevada (2.8%), Illinois (2.7%), and Massachusetts (2.7%).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 3 were in Pennsylvania (up 1,403), Texas (up 1,147), Illinois (up 646), Iowa (up 540), and Maryland (up 500), while the largest decreases were in New York (down 20,637), California (down 3,713), New Jersey (down 2,565), Connecticut (down 1,609), and Massachusetts (down 1,277).
