their highest number since mid-January

• Initial claims for unemployment insurance jumped 27,000 to 229,000 in the week ending June 4, and the 4-week moving average rose to 215,000.
• Continuing claims held steady at 1.306 million in the week ending May 28.    
• The insured unemployment rate held steady at a very low 0.9 percent in the week ending May 28.
• The labor market remains strong in the spring quarter but the rise in initial claims since early April is a cool breezing blowing at the hot labor market.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance jumped by 27,000 to 229,000 in the week ending June 4. This was the biggest weekly increase and highest number of new claims since mid-January. The four-week moving average of initial claims, which smooths out some of the volatility, moved up 8,000 to 215,000 in the week ending June 4. It hit a low of 172K in the early April.  The insured unemployment rate held steady at a very low 0.9 percent in the week ending May 28.                                                                          

The total number of people receiving benefits under regular state unemployment insurance programs (continuing claims) held steady at 1.306 million in the week ending May 28.  The four-week moving average of continuing claims fell by 9K to 1.318 million from the previous week. Continuing claims are at decades-long lows as unemployed workers leave the program’s rolls, either because their benefits have expired or because they have quickly found a new job. After peaking at more than 23 million in May 2020, state continuing claims have now moved to their lowest levels since the beginning of 1970.

The labor market remains in solid shape in the spring quarter but the rise in initial claims since early April is a cool breeze blowing at the hot labor market. If the recent uptick in the 4-week moving average of initial claims to 215K moves up to over 250K, that would be a clear sign that layoffs are happening at a growing number of companies and the unemployment rate is close to a low at 3.6 percent.

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