U.S. Jobless Claims Rise To 719,000, Monthly Average Falls to One-Year Low

U.S. unemployment claims rose to 719,000 for the week ending March 27 after falling to the lowest levels since the pandemic hit in the previous week, the Labor Department reported.

• Initial claims increased by 61,000 last week from the previous week’s revised level of 658,000, the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
• The four-week moving average fell 10,500 to 719,000 to mark the lowest level since March 14, 2020’s 225,500. The previous week’s average was revised down to 729,500.
• The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7% for the week ending March 20, with the advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment at 3.794 million.
• The largest increases in initial claims for the week were in Massachusetts, Texas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Virginia. Largest decreases were in Illinois, Ohio, California, New York, and Florida.
• For the week ending March 13 extended benefits were available in 16 states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and the Virgin Islands.
• The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 13 were in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Connecticut, New York, California, Rhode Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Illinois.