Unemployment Claims Dip For Another Month As Job Openings Hit Record Levels

All signs are pointing to an economic recovery as for another week initial jobless claims were down as a record number of employers seek workers across the U.S.

For the week ending Aug. 7, initial unemployment claims were 375,000, down 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 387,000, according to the latest report from the Labor Department.

“Welcome improvement is seen with the new jobless claims numbers, essentially in line with expectations,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, said in an email Thursday. “Of course, new claims reflect recent job loss, rather than the pace of hiring as such. The newly unemployed who are inclined to work should face generally positive prospects, an employment safety net, so to speak."

The drop in claims gave way to a lower unemployment insurance rate of 2.1% for the week ending July 31, down 0.1% from the previous week’s revised rate.

Also, down for the same week ending July 31 was the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits. Of these insured unemployment claims, 2,817,487 were enrolled in state programs, down 112,842 claims from the preceding week. A year earlier, 15,254,654 were enrolled in state programs.

A total of 2,866,000 Americans were receiving unemployment benefits, a decrease of 114,000 from a week earlier and the lowest level since March 14, 2020, which came in at 1,770,000 unemployed workers.

The highest unemployment insurance rates for the week ending July 24 were seen in Puerto Rico, Illinois, New Jersey, California, New York, and Connecticut, respectively.

The largest increase in initial claims for the week ending July 31 occurred in Indiana, Georgia, Rhode Island, Alabama, and Illinois, while the largest initial claims declines occurred in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Michigan.

States continuing to offer extended unemployment benefits to unemployed workers include Alaska, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Texas.

A total of 4,820,787 claims were reported for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits and 3,852,569 claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits in 48 states for the week ending July 24.

“We’ve had other indications of solid improvement in the job market, including the drop in the unemployment rate to 5.4% and steady hiring reflected in payrolls gains in June and July,” Hamrick said. “As if to punctuate the point, word of a record 10.1 million job openings in late June provides hope for further momentum in the months to come.”