New filings for US unemployment benefits increased for the third straight week, but this week's rise was the smallest yet
New filings for US unemployment benefits increased for the third straight week, but this week's rise was the smallest yet

Initial unemployment claims dropped to their lowest level since the pandemic began despite falling short of projections, according to the latest report from the Department of Labor.

Reported jobless claims reached 267,000, a drop of 4,000 claims from last week’s revised level. This nearly beat the low on March 14, 2020, of 256,000 jobless claims before the COVID-crisis devastated the economy. However, the numbers failed to reach the projected mark of 260,000.

The biggest movers were seen in Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Tennessee, and New Jersey, which reported the largest increase in initial claims for the week ending Oct. 30. The largest decreases in claims were reported in Missouri, Florida, Virginia, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

The highest insured unemployment rates for the week ending Oct. 23, were recorded in Puerto Rico, California, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, the Virgin Islands, Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, and Oregon.

The total number of unemployment claims for the week ending Oct. 30, was 2,160,000, up 59,000 from a week earlier’ s revised level of 2,101,000.

Continuing claims, which reflects the total number of individuals receiving some form of assistance, also hit a pandemic low, falling 107,000 from the previous week to about 2.6 million.

For the week ending Oct. 30, the insured unemployment rate was 1.6%.

New filings for US unemployment benefits increased for the third straight week, but this week's rise was the smallest yet

Photo: GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / JUSTIN SULLIVAN