Explanation Guide

Economic Chart Watch

 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CLAIMS

Unemployment Insurance is a program that provides unemployment benefits to workers who have become unemployed through no fault of their own.  Workers who quit or are fired are not eligible for unemployment insurance.  In addition to become eligible, a worker must meet the individual state requirements for wages earned during a pre-established period of time. 

Each Thursday, the Department of Labor publishes the Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report.  The report provides data on initial jobless claims and insured unemployment (a.k.a. continuing claims).

Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims (IUC) is the number of workers who have lost their job, are eligible for unemployment benefits, and have filed with their local unemployment office.  The Department of Labor aggregates the reported numbers from all states into a national total that covers the week ending on the Saturday prior to the Thursday release.  The IUC is an early barometer of the health of the labor market.  During economic downturns, the series rises, as an increasing number of people lose their jobs.  A decline in the series indicates fewer firings, a positive sign in the early stages of economic recovery.  Despite being seasonally adjusted, the data can be very volatile, due to factors such as adjustment issues with holidays and the weather.  Therefore, we also look at the smoothed series to distinguish trends.

Insured Unemployment refers to those receiving regular state unemployment compensation for more than one week and up to 26 weeks (reported with a one-week lag to initial claims). 

Insured Unemployment Rate (IUR) is the number of insured unemployed as a share of the covered employed (where covered employed are those eligible for unemployment compensation, i.e., their employers are paying state unemployment insurance taxes).

The State Unemployment Insurance program provides unemployment benefits for up to 26 weeks. The maximum amount is 50% of an individual's earnings over the most recent 52-week period, subject to a state cap.

Back to top

Data Points (Last 5):

E104C                 6/13/2025   6/06/2025   5/30/2025   5/23/2025   5/16/2025 
====================  ==========  ==========  ==========  ==========  ==========
Initial Unemp Claims      -5.000       2.000       9.000      13.000      -2.000
Continuing Claims           NULL      -6.000      49.000      -5.000      14.000
Insured Jobless Rate        NULL       0.000       0.100      -0.100       0.100

Back to top