Initial jobless claims in regular state unemployment programs rose to 412,000 for the week ended June 12. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting 3.425 million new claims.
This is the last week for which it will be possible to put together a meaningful trend in new claims. On June 12, Alaska, Iowa, Missouri and Mississippi became the first states to significantly reduce or fully slash enhanced federal unemployment benefits ahead of their official September expiration date. A total of about two dozen states have decided on an early phase out of the federal enhanced benefit of $300 a week. And no one knows how that will affect initial claims numbers in coming weeks. (Although it’s a reasonable bet that a lower weekly benefit will cut the number of new claims. That is the expectation in states that are moving to phase out the extra money.)
The total number of individuals claiming unemployment benefits across all state and federal programs was 14.8 million for the week ended May 29. That’s a decline of more than half a million from the prior week. The majority of these total claims came from workers applying of benefits through the federal PUA and PEUC programs for self-employed and gig workers.
