United States Department of Labor
More than 37 million people filed for unemployment insurance benefits in the 10 weeks from the week ending March 21 to the week ending May 23. The unemployment rate in April was 14.7 percent. Or was it 19.5 percent? There were 23 million people counted as unemployed in mid-April, and 18 million people received unemployment insurance (UI) benefits at that time. How can all of these things be true? What’s the real story?
Back in October, I set the record straight on how counts of people receiving unemployment insurance benefits differ from how BLS measures unemployment. These two measures offer distinct but related measures of trends in joblessness, some of which I will explore here. I will focus only on data from states’ regular UI programs, but other programs exist as well. Here’s the bottom line: When all is said and done, the two measures track each other very closely.
The number of people filing for UI benefits reached record levels in recent weeks as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it. The UI claims numbers don’t come from BLS but rather from our colleagues at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. Their count of people receiving UI benefits hit its highest level ever, nearly 23 million (not seasonally adjusted), for the week ending May 9. Their separate count of people filing new UI claims hit a record high of more than 6 million people in early April.
UI Continued Claimed versus Total Unemployed
First, the contrasts. The Employment and Training Administration publishes weekly counts of UI claims. The UI claims data include both initial claims and continued claims.
- Initial claims: A count of the new claims people filed to request UI benefits. These claims won’t necessarily all be approved if, for example, a state UI program determines the person isn’t eligible to receive benefits.
- Continued claims: A count of claims for those who have already filed initial claims and who have experienced a week of unemployment. These people then file a continued claim to receive benefits for that week of unemployment. Continued claims are also called insured unemployment.
Interviewers for the BLS Current Population Survey contact households once a month to ask questions about employment, job search, and other labor market topics for the week containing the 12th of the month. The monthly labor market survey counts people as unemployed if they meet all of these conditions:
- They are not employed.
- They could have taken a job if one had been offered.
- They had made at least one specific, active effort to find employment in the last 4 weeks OR were on temporary layoff.
People counted in the survey as unemployed may or may not be eligible for UI benefits.
Counts of continued UI claims track pretty well with our survey measures of unemployment. The two measures run mostly parallel but at different levels over time. The chart below shows some history through the reference week of the survey data for April 2020.
Editor’s note: Data for this chart are available in the table below.
The gap between the two measures shows how the survey captures millions of unemployed people who do not receive UI benefits. This gap partly results from states’ eligibility requirements for their UI programs.
UI Continued Claims versus Job Losers
Our monthly labor market survey lets us see more detail about the characteristics of people who are unemployed. One characteristic is the reason for a person’s unemployment.
- Some people are labor force entrants or reentrants if they did not have a job immediately before starting their job search.
- Others quit or leave their job voluntarily and are job leavers.
- The rest become unemployed by losing their job in one of the following ways:
- Being permanently laid off
- Being temporarily laid off
- Completing a temporary job
People who become unemployed after losing their jobs are job losers. Job losers are more likely to be eligible for UI benefits. Data for this group more closely track the continued claims data.
Editor’s note: Data for this chart are available in the table below.
To narrow the gap even more, we know the time limits all regular UI programs have for receiving benefits. These limits vary by state, but states rarely offer more than 26 weeks of benefits in their regular program. Our survey estimates of job losers unemployed 26 weeks or fewer track more closely with UI continued claims.
Editor’s note: Data for this chart are available in the table below.
Current Trends
Let’s focus on these two measures since last fall. We can see they track even more closely through the April survey reference week.
Editor’s note: Data for this chart are available in the table below.
Labor market data from BLS have always been essential for understanding our economy. Good data—from many sources—are even more essential now, both for guiding the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic and for tracking its economic impact and recovery. The labor market impacts from the pandemic have been so massive and happened so quickly that policymakers, businesses, and workers have wanted data in almost real time. Our monthly surveys weren’t designed to provide data quite that rapidly, but combining data from multiple sources and understanding how those measures track one another can provide more insight than any single source. We’ve been thinking a lot in recent years about how to complement our survey data with high-frequency information from other sources. I’ve written about some of those efforts and will continue to do so. This pandemic will sharpen our focus on innovating to provide gold standard data for the public good.
| Date | Current Population Survey unemployed | Current Population Survey unemployed job losers | Current Population Survey unemployed job losers who were unemployed 26 weeks or fewer | Unemployment insurance continued claims under state programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1/15/1994 | 9,492,000 | 5,215,000 | 4,204,000 | 3,142,036 |
2/12/1994 | 9,262,000 | 4,925,000 | 3,968,000 | 3,529,168 |
3/12/1994 | 8,874,000 | 4,522,000 | 3,577,000 | 3,255,495 |
4/16/1994 | 8,078,000 | 3,832,000 | 2,959,000 | 2,780,268 |
5/14/1994 | 7,656,000 | 3,319,000 | 2,520,000 | 2,558,790 |
6/18/1994 | 8,251,000 | 3,459,000 | 2,722,000 | 2,399,131 |
7/16/1994 | 8,281,000 | 3,701,000 | 2,919,000 | 2,616,255 |
8/13/1994 | 7,868,000 | 3,565,000 | 2,832,000 | 2,382,494 |
9/17/1994 | 7,379,000 | 3,206,000 | 2,543,000 | 2,095,343 |
10/15/1994 | 7,155,000 | 3,168,000 | 2,557,000 | 2,119,751 |
11/12/1994 | 6,973,000 | 3,366,000 | 2,759,000 | 2,246,077 |
12/10/1994 | 6,690,000 | 3,514,000 | 2,947,000 | 2,501,945 |
1/14/1995 | 8,101,000 | 4,350,000 | 3,697,000 | 3,045,968 |
2/18/1995 | 7,685,000 | 3,923,000 | 3,288,000 | 3,011,244 |
3/18/1995 | 7,480,000 | 3,718,000 | 3,112,000 | 2,872,790 |
4/15/1995 | 7,378,000 | 3,479,000 | 2,817,000 | 2,578,113 |
5/13/1995 | 7,185,000 | 3,275,000 | 2,697,000 | 2,362,466 |
6/17/1995 | 7,727,000 | 3,160,000 | 2,615,000 | 2,321,295 |
7/15/1995 | 7,892,000 | 3,470,000 | 2,899,000 | 2,643,997 |
8/12/1995 | 7,457,000 | 3,331,000 | 2,823,000 | 2,363,074 |
9/16/1995 | 7,167,000 | 3,017,000 | 2,492,000 | 2,110,587 |
10/14/1995 | 6,884,000 | 3,104,000 | 2,588,000 | 2,154,971 |
11/18/1995 | 7,024,000 | 3,355,000 | 2,851,000 | 2,095,335 |
12/9/1995 | 6,872,000 | 3,533,000 | 3,065,000 | 2,596,696 |
1/13/1996 | 8,270,000 | 4,425,000 | 3,884,000 | 3,211,081 |
2/17/1996 | 7,858,000 | 4,099,000 | 3,517,000 | 3,234,481 |
3/16/1996 | 7,700,000 | 3,849,000 | 3,248,000 | 3,086,902 |
4/13/1996 | 7,124,000 | 3,610,000 | 2,903,000 | 2,753,405 |
5/18/1996 | 7,166,000 | 3,164,000 | 2,643,000 | 2,314,322 |
6/15/1996 | 7,377,000 | 3,116,000 | 2,570,000 | 2,285,632 |
7/13/1996 | 7,693,000 | 3,323,000 | 2,717,000 | 2,494,226 |
8/17/1996 | 6,868,000 | 2,932,000 | 2,451,000 | 2,219,197 |
9/14/1996 | 6,700,000 | 2,812,000 | 2,375,000 | 2,007,009 |
10/12/1996 | 6,577,000 | 2,757,000 | 2,320,000 | 1,910,925 |
11/16/1996 | 6,816,000 | 3,126,000 | 2,677,000 | 2,169,112 |
12/7/1996 | 6,680,000 | 3,230,000 | 2,805,000 | 2,406,303 |
1/18/1997 | 7,933,000 | 4,027,000 | 3,561,000 | 2,975,311 |
2/15/1997 | 7,647,000 | 3,659,000 | 3,158,000 | 2,903,673 |
3/15/1997 | 7,399,000 | 3,493,000 | 3,026,000 | 2,719,345 |
4/12/1997 | 6,551,000 | 3,050,000 | 2,593,000 | 2,392,620 |
5/17/1997 | 6,398,000 | 2,696,000 | 2,318,000 | 2,039,498 |
6/14/1997 | 7,094,000 | 2,878,000 | 2,457,000 | 2,008,106 |
7/12/1997 | 6,981,000 | 2,895,000 | 2,405,000 | 2,273,294 |
8/16/1997 | 6,594,000 | 2,859,000 | 2,374,000 | 2,047,159 |
9/13/1997 | 6,403,000 | 2,616,000 | 2,190,000 | 1,797,836 |
10/18/1997 | 5,995,000 | 2,525,000 | 2,105,000 | 1,761,841 |
11/15/1997 | 5,914,000 | 2,698,000 | 2,319,000 | 1,977,179 |
12/13/1997 | 5,957,000 | 3,051,000 | 2,663,000 | 2,251,072 |
1/17/1998 | 7,069,000 | 3,556,000 | 3,136,000 | 2,726,043 |
2/14/1998 | 6,804,000 | 3,254,000 | 2,868,000 | 2,660,864 |
3/14/1998 | 6,816,000 | 3,311,000 | 2,906,000 | 2,590,407 |
4/18/1998 | 5,643,000 | 2,647,000 | 2,262,000 | 2,181,018 |
5/16/1998 | 5,764,000 | 2,517,000 | 2,196,000 | 1,895,102 |
6/13/1998 | 6,534,000 | 2,628,000 | 2,316,000 | 1,908,179 |
7/18/1998 | 6,567,000 | 2,847,000 | 2,499,000 | 2,277,800 |
8/15/1998 | 6,173,000 | 2,715,000 | 2,365,000 | 1,987,304 |
9/12/1998 | 6,039,000 | 2,534,000 | 2,169,000 | 1,805,455 |
10/17/1998 | 5,831,000 | 2,426,000 | 2,109,000 | 1,735,477 |
11/14/1998 | 5,711,000 | 2,587,000 | 2,299,000 | 1,944,590 |
12/12/1998 | 5,565,000 | 2,849,000 | 2,537,000 | 2,232,312 |
1/16/1999 | 6,604,000 | 3,394,000 | 3,095,000 | 2,808,153 |
2/13/1999 | 6,563,000 | 3,151,000 | 2,859,000 | 2,669,301 |
3/13/1999 | 6,119,000 | 2,888,000 | 2,597,000 | 2,581,727 |
4/17/1999 | 5,688,000 | 2,633,000 | 2,360,000 | 2,219,359 |
5/15/1999 | 5,507,000 | 2,362,000 | 2,107,000 | 2,016,349 |
6/12/1999 | 6,271,000 | 2,495,000 | 2,204,000 | 1,963,530 |
7/17/1999 | 6,319,000 | 2,729,000 | 2,422,000 | 2,181,103 |
8/14/1999 | 5,826,000 | 2,559,000 | 2,251,000 | 1,978,309 |
9/18/1999 | 5,661,000 | 2,299,000 | 2,039,000 | 1,728,476 |
10/16/1999 | 5,372,000 | 2,162,000 | 1,935,000 | 1,705,790 |
11/13/1999 | 5,380,000 | 2,340,000 | 2,092,000 | 1,828,872 |
12/11/1999 | 5,245,000 | 2,451,000 | 2,193,000 | 2,094,337 |
1/15/2000 | 6,316,000 | 3,134,000 | 2,808,000 | 2,531,224 |
2/12/2000 | 6,284,000 | 3,066,000 | 2,771,000 | 2,604,156 |
3/18/2000 | 6,069,000 | 2,802,000 | 2,535,000 | 2,277,154 |
4/15/2000 | 5,212,000 | 2,259,000 | 2,027,000 | 1,975,507 |
5/13/2000 | 5,460,000 | 2,196,000 | 1,957,000 | 1,783,386 |
6/17/2000 | 5,959,000 | 2,303,000 | 2,080,000 | 1,812,319 |
7/15/2000 | 6,028,000 | 2,508,000 | 2,273,000 | 2,107,129 |
8/12/2000 | 5,863,000 | 2,570,000 | 2,317,000 | 1,933,774 |
9/16/2000 | 5,359,000 | 2,284,000 | 2,010,000 | 1,709,044 |
10/14/2000 | 5,153,000 | 2,105,000 | 1,857,000 | 1,735,297 |
11/18/2000 | 5,336,000 | 2,355,000 | 2,108,000 | 1,822,245 |
12/9/2000 | 5,264,000 | 2,618,000 | 2,376,000 | 2,261,776 |
1/13/2001 | 6,647,000 | 3,449,000 | 3,162,000 | 2,787,024 |
2/17/2001 | 6,523,000 | 3,343,000 | 3,061,000 | 2,954,857 |
3/17/2001 | 6,509,000 | 3,379,000 | 3,047,000 | 2,932,361 |
4/14/2001 | 6,004,000 | 3,027,000 | 2,697,000 | 2,772,097 |
5/12/2001 | 5,901,000 | 2,839,000 | 2,578,000 | 2,554,830 |
6/16/2001 | 6,816,000 | 3,136,000 | 2,833,000 | 2,634,433 |
7/14/2001 | 6,858,000 | 3,372,000 | 3,060,000 | 3,053,451 |
8/18/2001 | 7,017,000 | 3,379,000 | 3,004,000 | 2,793,540 |
9/15/2001 | 6,766,000 | 3,294,000 | 2,961,000 | 2,630,082 |
10/13/2001 | 7,175,000 | 3,753,000 | 3,356,000 | 2,888,718 |
11/17/2001 | 7,617,000 | 4,252,000 | 3,738,000 | 3,105,348 |
12/8/2001 | 7,773,000 | 4,485,000 | 3,937,000 | 3,604,679 |
1/12/2002 | 9,051,000 | 5,449,000 | 4,757,000 | 4,234,835 |
2/16/2002 | 8,823,000 | 5,105,000 | 4,457,000 | 4,206,538 |
3/16/2002 | 8,776,000 | 4,861,000 | 4,145,000 | 4,078,226 |
4/13/2002 | 8,255,000 | 4,550,000 | 3,744,000 | 3,731,669 |
5/18/2002 | 7,969,000 | 4,180,000 | 3,293,000 | 3,314,004 |
6/15/2002 | 8,758,000 | 4,429,000 | 3,547,000 | 3,248,721 |
7/13/2002 | 8,693,000 | 4,607,000 | 3,673,000 | 3,518,751 |
8/17/2002 | 8,271,000 | 4,427,000 | 3,545,000 | 3,195,935 |
9/14/2002 | 7,790,000 | 4,123,000 | 3,170,000 | 2,947,854 |
10/12/2002 | 7,769,000 | 4,151,000 | 3,181,000 | 2,912,625 |
11/16/2002 | 8,170,000 | 4,555,000 | 3,521,000 | 3,205,969 |
12/7/2002 | 8,209,000 | 4,849,000 | 3,718,000 | 3,481,337 |
1/18/2003 | 9,395,000 | 5,641,000 | 4,564,000 | 4,011,764 |
2/15/2003 | 9,260,000 | 5,487,000 | 4,336,000 | 4,042,069 |
3/15/2003 | 9,018,000 | 5,150,000 | 4,047,000 | 4,009,388 |
4/12/2003 | 8,501,000 | 4,716,000 | 3,526,000 | 3,693,322 |
5/17/2003 | 8,500,000 | 4,589,000 | 3,475,000 | 3,341,816 |
6/14/2003 | 9,649,000 | 4,775,000 | 3,654,000 | 3,334,821 |
7/12/2003 | 9,319,000 | 4,958,000 | 3,842,000 | 3,635,324 |
8/16/2003 | 8,830,000 | 4,789,000 | 3,715,000 | 3,278,613 |
9/13/2003 | 8,436,000 | 4,500,000 | 3,363,000 | 2,985,665 |
10/18/2003 | 8,169,000 | 4,319,000 | 3,206,000 | 2,944,236 |
11/15/2003 | 8,269,000 | 4,505,000 | 3,401,000 | 3,090,089 |
12/13/2003 | 7,945,000 | 4,629,000 | 3,598,000 | 3,338,180 |
1/17/2004 | 9,144,000 | 5,195,000 | 4,063,000 | 3,754,598 |
2/14/2004 | 8,770,000 | 4,888,000 | 3,838,000 | 3,690,774 |
3/13/2004 | 8,834,000 | 4,920,000 | 3,765,000 | 3,466,491 |
4/17/2004 | 7,837,000 | 4,253,000 | 3,255,000 | 2,994,939 |
5/15/2004 | 7,792,000 | 3,778,000 | 2,845,000 | 2,690,913 |
6/12/2004 | 8,616,000 | 3,930,000 | 3,010,000 | 2,685,110 |
7/17/2004 | 8,518,000 | 4,233,000 | 3,372,000 | 2,892,369 |
8/14/2004 | 7,940,000 | 3,809,000 | 2,982,000 | 2,639,474 |
9/18/2004 | 7,545,000 | 3,644,000 | 2,853,000 | 2,342,492 |
10/16/2004 | 7,531,000 | 3,653,000 | 2,832,000 | 2,348,403 |
11/13/2004 | 7,665,000 | 3,898,000 | 3,103,000 | 2,481,768 |
12/11/2004 | 7,599,000 | 4,166,000 | 3,320,000 | 2,781,151 |
1/15/2005 | 8,444,000 | 4,771,000 | 3,905,000 | 3,269,319 |
2/12/2005 | 8,549,000 | 4,461,000 | 3,624,000 | 3,200,271 |
3/12/2005 | 7,986,000 | 4,067,000 | 3,289,000 | 3,044,727 |
4/16/2005 | 7,335,000 | 3,559,000 | 2,787,000 | 2,565,759 |
5/14/2005 | 7,287,000 | 3,265,000 | 2,606,000 | 2,347,511 |
6/18/2005 | 7,870,000 | 3,482,000 | 2,883,000 | 2,354,977 |
7/16/2005 | 7,839,000 | 3,618,000 | 3,034,000 | 2,581,153 |
8/13/2005 | 7,327,000 | 3,297,000 | 2,705,000 | 2,361,634 |
9/17/2005 | 7,259,000 | 3,373,000 | 2,775,000 | 2,293,043 |
10/15/2005 | 6,964,000 | 3,162,000 | 2,535,000 | 2,377,075 |
11/12/2005 | 7,271,000 | 3,329,000 | 2,687,000 | 2,515,835 |
12/10/2005 | 6,956,000 | 3,622,000 | 3,000,000 | 2,659,503 |
1/14/2006 | 7,608,000 | 3,990,000 | 3,419,000 | 3,010,836 |
2/18/2006 | 7,692,000 | 3,846,000 | 3,233,000 | 2,865,435 |
3/18/2006 | 7,255,000 | 3,707,000 | 3,108,000 | 2,712,772 |
4/15/2006 | 6,804,000 | 3,426,000 | 2,771,000 | 2,430,217 |
5/13/2006 | 6,655,000 | 3,152,000 | 2,546,000 | 2,183,176 |
6/17/2006 | 7,341,000 | 3,222,000 | 2,718,000 | 2,177,172 |
7/15/2006 | 7,602,000 | 3,374,000 | 2,820,000 | 2,450,260 |
8/12/2006 | 7,086,000 | 3,132,000 | 2,585,000 | 2,283,575 |
9/16/2006 | 6,625,000 | 2,878,000 | 2,366,000 | 2,022,552 |
10/14/2006 | 6,272,000 | 2,724,000 | 2,247,000 | 2,077,157 |
11/11/2006 | 6,576,000 | 3,025,000 | 2,555,000 | 2,231,475 |
12/9/2006 | 6,491,000 | 3,374,000 | 2,928,000 | 2,536,673 |
1/13/2007 | 7,649,000 | 4,127,000 | 3,668,000 | 2,887,810 |
2/17/2007 | 7,400,000 | 3,942,000 | 3,425,000 | 3,037,700 |
3/17/2007 | 6,913,000 | 3,487,000 | 2,987,000 | 2,788,224 |
4/14/2007 | 6,532,000 | 3,249,000 | 2,724,000 | 2,598,802 |
5/12/2007 | 6,486,000 | 3,070,000 | 2,591,000 | 2,293,089 |
6/16/2007 | 7,295,000 | 3,241,000 | 2,752,000 | 2,241,672 |
7/14/2007 | 7,556,000 | 3,730,000 | 3,157,000 | 2,548,427 |
8/18/2007 | 7,088,000 | 3,472,000 | 2,899,000 | 2,335,412 |
9/15/2007 | 6,952,000 | 3,208,000 | 2,645,000 | 2,128,411 |
10/13/2007 | 6,773,000 | 3,259,000 | 2,668,000 | 2,143,999 |
11/10/2007 | 6,917,000 | 3,382,000 | 2,814,000 | 2,260,475 |
12/8/2007 | 7,371,000 | 4,013,000 | 3,396,000 | 2,665,956 |
1/12/2008 | 8,221,000 | 4,608,000 | 3,951,000 | 3,242,075 |
2/16/2008 | 7,953,000 | 4,471,000 | 3,805,000 | 3,265,157 |
3/15/2008 | 8,027,000 | 4,555,000 | 3,922,000 | 3,220,809 |
4/12/2008 | 7,287,000 | 3,931,000 | 3,212,000 | 3,018,445 |
5/17/2008 | 8,076,000 | 3,949,000 | 3,204,000 | 2,759,158 |
6/14/2008 | 8,933,000 | 4,201,000 | 3,451,000 | 2,801,895 |
7/12/2008 | 9,433,000 | 4,562,000 | 3,782,000 | 3,097,770 |
8/16/2008 | 9,479,000 | 4,735,000 | 3,855,000 | 3,112,252 |
9/13/2008 | 9,199,000 | 4,699,000 | 3,655,000 | 2,957,202 |
10/18/2008 | 9,469,000 | 5,138,000 | 4,006,000 | 3,188,153 |
11/15/2008 | 10,015,000 | 5,746,000 | 4,609,000 | 3,714,261 |
12/13/2008 | 10,999,000 | 6,878,000 | 5,483,000 | 4,531,208 |
1/17/2009 | 13,009,000 | 8,633,000 | 7,041,000 | 5,647,319 |
2/14/2009 | 13,699,000 | 9,098,000 | 7,380,000 | 6,031,637 |
3/14/2009 | 13,895,000 | 9,315,000 | 7,347,000 | 6,354,009 |
4/18/2009 | 13,248,000 | 8,687,000 | 6,347,000 | 6,237,658 |
5/16/2009 | 13,973,000 | 8,930,000 | 6,531,000 | 6,049,295 |
6/13/2009 | 15,095,000 | 9,194,000 | 6,567,000 | 6,012,730 |
7/18/2009 | 15,201,000 | 9,447,000 | 6,275,000 | 5,989,877 |
8/15/2009 | 14,823,000 | 9,316,000 | 5,955,000 | 5,578,533 |
9/12/2009 | 14,538,000 | 9,170,000 | 5,520,000 | 5,131,447 |
10/17/2009 | 14,547,000 | 9,176,000 | 5,482,000 | 4,893,301 |
11/14/2009 | 14,407,000 | 9,130,000 | 5,237,000 | 4,996,155 |
12/12/2009 | 14,740,000 | 9,822,000 | 5,881,000 | 5,262,045 |
1/16/2010 | 16,147,000 | 10,574,000 | 6,302,000 | 5,538,244 |
2/13/2010 | 15,991,000 | 10,664,000 | 6,347,000 | 5,465,212 |
3/13/2010 | 15,678,000 | 10,311,000 | 5,880,000 | 5,270,644 |
4/17/2010 | 14,609,000 | 9,110,000 | 4,607,000 | 4,715,968 |
5/15/2010 | 14,369,000 | 8,812,000 | 4,484,000 | 4,333,973 |
6/12/2010 | 14,885,000 | 8,769,000 | 4,606,000 | 4,226,459 |
7/17/2010 | 15,137,000 | 8,964,000 | 4,695,000 | 4,471,386 |
8/14/2010 | 14,759,000 | 8,894,000 | 4,724,000 | 4,138,097 |
9/18/2010 | 14,140,000 | 8,651,000 | 4,526,000 | 3,737,930 |
10/16/2010 | 13,903,000 | 8,331,000 | 4,306,000 | 3,697,842 |
11/13/2010 | 14,282,000 | 8,926,000 | 4,787,000 | 3,804,696 |
12/11/2010 | 13,997,000 | 8,995,000 | 4,986,000 | 4,119,344 |
1/15/2011 | 14,937,000 | 9,520,000 | 5,545,000 | 4,552,936 |
2/12/2011 | 14,542,000 | 9,212,000 | 5,403,000 | 4,521,733 |
3/12/2011 | 14,060,000 | 8,841,000 | 4,874,000 | 4,215,458 |
4/16/2011 | 13,237,000 | 7,958,000 | 4,276,000 | 3,726,578 |
5/14/2011 | 13,421,000 | 7,885,000 | 4,051,000 | 3,492,720 |
6/18/2011 | 14,409,000 | 7,940,000 | 4,315,000 | 3,454,731 |
7/16/2011 | 14,428,000 | 8,107,000 | 4,441,000 | 3,695,537 |
8/13/2011 | 14,008,000 | 7,897,000 | 4,395,000 | 3,497,400 |
9/17/2011 | 13,520,000 | 7,636,000 | 3,849,000 | 3,150,942 |
10/15/2011 | 13,102,000 | 7,390,000 | 3,911,000 | 3,141,911 |
11/12/2011 | 12,613,000 | 7,201,000 | 3,813,000 | 3,323,025 |
12/10/2011 | 12,692,000 | 7,691,000 | 4,392,000 | 3,571,487 |
1/14/2012 | 13,541,000 | 8,234,000 | 4,977,000 | 4,019,589 |
2/18/2012 | 13,430,000 | 7,866,000 | 4,783,000 | 3,834,179 |
3/17/2012 | 12,904,000 | 7,415,000 | 4,394,000 | 3,650,071 |
4/14/2012 | 11,910,000 | 6,555,000 | 3,580,000 | 3,377,436 |
5/12/2012 | 12,271,000 | 6,607,000 | 3,601,000 | 3,079,181 |
6/16/2012 | 13,184,000 | 6,927,000 | 3,973,000 | 3,069,545 |
7/14/2012 | 13,400,000 | 7,151,000 | 4,248,000 | 3,288,629 |
8/18/2012 | 12,696,000 | 6,820,000 | 4,003,000 | 3,068,519 |
9/15/2012 | 11,742,000 | 6,161,000 | 3,497,000 | 2,796,675 |
10/13/2012 | 11,741,000 | 6,125,000 | 3,428,000 | 2,772,151 |
11/10/2012 | 11,404,000 | 6,069,000 | 3,520,000 | 2,902,343 |
12/8/2012 | 11,844,000 | 6,592,000 | 4,086,000 | 3,203,819 |
1/12/2013 | 13,181,000 | 7,575,000 | 5,046,000 | 3,661,355 |
2/16/2013 | 12,500,000 | 7,130,000 | 4,468,000 | 3,483,983 |
3/16/2013 | 11,815,000 | 6,638,000 | 4,024,000 | 3,345,945 |
4/13/2013 | 11,014,000 | 6,079,000 | 3,642,000 | 3,049,657 |
5/18/2013 | 11,302,000 | 5,751,000 | 3,437,000 | 2,752,679 |
6/15/2013 | 12,248,000 | 5,939,000 | 3,794,000 | 2,745,766 |
7/13/2013 | 12,083,000 | 5,934,000 | 3,771,000 | 2,995,510 |
8/17/2013 | 11,462,000 | 5,856,000 | 3,677,000 | 2,772,037 |
9/14/2013 | 10,885,000 | 5,470,000 | 3,409,000 | 2,412,302 |
10/12/2013 | 10,773,000 | 5,649,000 | 3,657,000 | 2,418,279 |
11/9/2013 | 10,271,000 | 5,400,000 | 3,371,000 | 2,514,678 |
12/7/2013 | 9,984,000 | 5,460,000 | 3,492,000 | 2,838,295 |
1/18/2014 | 10,855,000 | 6,152,000 | 4,163,000 | 3,334,697 |
2/15/2014 | 10,893,000 | 6,024,000 | 4,089,000 | 3,329,510 |
3/15/2014 | 10,537,000 | 5,779,000 | 3,853,000 | 3,096,231 |
4/12/2014 | 9,079,000 | 4,972,000 | 3,100,000 | 2,721,859 |
5/17/2014 | 9,443,000 | 4,613,000 | 2,948,000 | 2,421,319 |
6/14/2014 | 9,893,000 | 4,670,000 | 3,239,000 | 2,372,393 |
7/12/2014 | 10,307,000 | 4,867,000 | 3,359,000 | 2,518,959 |
8/16/2014 | 9,787,000 | 4,750,000 | 3,442,000 | 2,363,077 |
9/13/2014 | 8,962,000 | 4,176,000 | 2,774,000 | 2,076,867 |
10/18/2014 | 8,680,000 | 3,995,000 | 2,682,000 | 2,046,031 |
11/15/2014 | 8,630,000 | 4,182,000 | 2,954,000 | 2,158,767 |
12/13/2014 | 8,331,000 | 4,355,000 | 3,083,000 | 2,445,747 |
1/17/2015 | 9,498,000 | 4,912,000 | 3,601,000 | 2,750,868 |
2/14/2015 | 9,095,000 | 4,721,000 | 3,514,000 | 2,720,615 |
3/14/2015 | 8,682,000 | 4,503,000 | 3,259,000 | 2,674,331 |
4/18/2015 | 7,966,000 | 3,977,000 | 2,789,000 | 2,251,252 |
5/16/2015 | 8,370,000 | 3,962,000 | 2,850,000 | 2,047,456 |
6/13/2015 | 8,638,000 | 3,951,000 | 3,029,000 | 2,066,476 |
7/18/2015 | 8,805,000 | 4,204,000 | 3,207,000 | 2,217,720 |
8/15/2015 | 8,162,000 | 3,987,000 | 2,968,000 | 2,124,998 |
9/12/2015 | 7,628,000 | 3,509,000 | 2,647,000 | 1,903,085 |
10/17/2015 | 7,597,000 | 3,576,000 | 2,678,000 | 1,825,692 |
11/14/2015 | 7,573,000 | 3,633,000 | 2,815,000 | 1,970,435 |
12/12/2015 | 7,542,000 | 3,820,000 | 2,964,000 | 2,255,937 |
1/16/2016 | 8,309,000 | 4,287,000 | 3,357,000 | 2,624,638 |
2/13/2016 | 8,219,000 | 4,244,000 | 3,299,000 | 2,582,311 |
3/12/2016 | 8,116,000 | 4,149,000 | 3,123,000 | 2,461,697 |
4/16/2016 | 7,413,000 | 3,716,000 | 2,761,000 | 2,126,849 |
5/14/2016 | 7,207,000 | 3,322,000 | 2,480,000 | 1,982,730 |
6/18/2016 | 8,144,000 | 3,677,000 | 2,855,000 | 1,975,334 |
7/16/2016 | 8,267,000 | 3,869,000 | 3,001,000 | 2,109,038 |
8/13/2016 | 7,996,000 | 3,787,000 | 2,918,000 | 2,030,018 |
9/17/2016 | 7,658,000 | 3,536,000 | 2,660,000 | 1,728,317 |
10/15/2016 | 7,447,000 | 3,352,000 | 2,551,000 | 1,710,066 |
11/12/2016 | 7,066,000 | 3,271,000 | 2,490,000 | 1,828,034 |
12/10/2016 | 7,170,000 | 3,668,000 | 2,917,000 | 2,071,781 |
1/14/2017 | 8,149,000 | 4,361,000 | 3,481,000 | 2,437,106 |
2/18/2017 | 7,887,000 | 4,184,000 | 3,335,000 | 2,364,751 |
3/18/2017 | 7,284,000 | 3,812,000 | 2,990,000 | 2,256,527 |
4/15/2017 | 6,555,000 | 3,369,000 | 2,561,000 | 1,984,675 |
5/13/2017 | 6,572,000 | 3,017,000 | 2,317,000 | 1,757,086 |
6/17/2017 | 7,250,000 | 3,359,000 | 2,698,000 | 1,780,061 |
7/15/2017 | 7,441,000 | 3,519,000 | 2,822,000 | 1,936,985 |
8/12/2017 | 7,287,000 | 3,536,000 | 2,866,000 | 1,851,667 |
9/16/2017 | 6,556,000 | 2,992,000 | 2,314,000 | 1,611,895 |
10/14/2017 | 6,242,000 | 2,859,000 | 2,252,000 | 1,572,784 |
11/11/2017 | 6,286,000 | 2,907,000 | 2,289,000 | 1,672,980 |
12/9/2017 | 6,278,000 | 3,298,000 | 2,715,000 | 1,909,886 |
1/13/2018 | 7,189,000 | 3,891,000 | 3,259,000 | 2,242,438 |
2/17/2018 | 7,091,000 | 3,716,000 | 3,069,000 | 2,226,157 |
3/17/2018 | 6,671,000 | 3,375,000 | 2,799,000 | 2,082,891 |
4/14/2018 | 5,932,000 | 2,805,000 | 2,272,000 | 1,841,572 |
5/12/2018 | 5,756,000 | 2,493,000 | 2,004,000 | 1,584,129 |
6/16/2018 | 6,812,000 | 3,022,000 | 2,511,000 | 1,564,998 |
7/14/2018 | 6,730,000 | 3,164,000 | 2,551,000 | 1,738,468 |
8/18/2018 | 6,370,000 | 2,885,000 | 2,291,000 | 1,605,843 |
9/15/2018 | 5,766,000 | 2,474,000 | 1,912,000 | 1,396,832 |
10/13/2018 | 5,771,000 | 2,510,000 | 1,958,000 | 1,353,628 |
11/10/2018 | 5,650,000 | 2,598,000 | 2,107,000 | 1,429,209 |
12/8/2018 | 6,029,000 | 2,947,000 | 2,443,000 | 1,703,504 |
1/12/2019 | 7,140,000 | 3,791,000 | 3,291,000 | 2,070,444 |
2/16/2019 | 6,625,000 | 3,300,000 | 2,760,000 | 2,107,108 |
3/16/2019 | 6,382,000 | 3,098,000 | 2,513,000 | 1,990,542 |
4/13/2019 | 5,387,000 | 2,484,000 | 1,984,000 | 1,686,671 |
5/18/2019 | 5,503,000 | 2,281,000 | 1,783,000 | 1,491,921 |
6/15/2019 | 6,292,000 | 2,703,000 | 2,196,000 | 1,538,052 |
7/13/2019 | 6,556,000 | 2,986,000 | 2,483,000 | 1,673,714 |
8/17/2019 | 6,203,000 | 2,906,000 | 2,418,000 | 1,594,845 |
9/14/2019 | 5,465,000 | 2,227,000 | 1,711,000 | 1,379,722 |
10/12/2019 | 5,510,000 | 2,340,000 | 1,889,000 | 1,366,544 |
11/9/2019 | 5,441,000 | 2,561,000 | 2,123,000 | 1,439,799 |
12/7/2019 | 5,503,000 | 2,752,000 | 2,361,000 | 1,707,456 |
1/18/2020 | 6,504,000 | 3,267,000 | 2,808,000 | 2,053,978 |
2/15/2020 | 6,218,000 | 3,151,000 | 2,712,000 | 2,036,213 |
3/14/2020 | 7,370,000 | 4,441,000 | 3,907,000 | 2,055,283 |
4/18/2020 | 22,504,000 | 20,384,000 | 19,953,000 | 17,601,283 |
| Date | Current Population Survey unemployed job losers who were unemployed 26 weeks or fewer | Unemployment insurance continued claims under state programs |
|---|---|---|
11/2/2019 | 1,428,992 | |
11/9/2019 | 2,123,000 | 1,439,799 |
11/16/2019 | 1,523,691 | |
11/23/2019 | 1,488,691 | |
11/30/2019 | 1,733,682 | |
12/7/2019 | 2,361,000 | 1,707,456 |
12/14/2019 | 1,780,860 | |
12/21/2019 | 1,760,439 | |
12/28/2019 | 2,124,746 | |
1/4/2020 | 2,229,673 | |
1/11/2020 | 2,114,161 | |
1/18/2020 | 2,808,000 | 2,053,978 |
1/25/2020 | 2,125,243 | |
2/1/2020 | 2,060,389 | |
2/8/2020 | 2,073,658 | |
2/15/2020 | 2,712,000 | 2,036,213 |
2/22/2020 | 2,079,249 | |
2/29/2020 | 2,032,792 | |
3/7/2020 | 1,954,265 | |
3/14/2020 | 3,907,000 | 2,055,283 |
3/21/2020 | 3,391,238 | |
3/28/2020 | 8,107,677 | |
4/4/2020 | 12,356,980 | |
4/11/2020 | 16,138,295 | |
4/18/2020 | 19,953,000 | 17,601,283 |
4/25/2020 | 21,576,373 | |
5/2/2020 | 20,733,760 | |
5/9/2020 | 22,637,743 | |
5/16/2020 | 18,855,114 |