First-Time Claims for Unemployment Insurance Decrease Again to 406,000, Another Pandemic-Era Low

by Julia Sanders

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 406,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment insurance assistance for the week that ended May 22, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. These claims were a decrease of 38,000 from last week’s unrevised unemployment claims of 444,000 and were lower than Dow Jones economists’ estimates of 425,000. This week’s claims were the lowest claims since March 14, 2020, which had 256,000 claims. Continuing claims, data of which lags a week, decreased by 96,000 to 3.64 million, according to CNBC.

Some states are recovering better than others during the pandemic-induced recession, according to the Department of Labor. For the week ending in May 15, there were large increases in initial claims in New Jersey, Washington, West Virginia and Rhode Island. For the same week, there were large decreases in initial claims in Georgia, Kentucky, Texas, Michigan and Florida.

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