(Nov 7): Applications for US unemployment benefits rose last week, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of unadjusted state-level filings released during the federal government shutdown.
Initial claims increased to about 228,000 in the week ended Nov 1 from a revised 219,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department data suggest.
The Labor Department hasn’t issued its weekly report since Sept 25 because of the government shutdown, but it did make downloadable data available for most states. Bloomberg News adjusted those raw numbers using pre-released weekly seasonal factors from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When data from all states are included, this approach comes close to matching the official seasonally adjusted figures. However, the latest weekly data was unavailable for New Mexico and the Virgin Islands. For those locations, Bloomberg News substituted the average of the prior four weeks.
Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, edged up to 1.96 million in the week ended Oct 25 from 1.95 million, Bloomberg News calculated.
Applications for unemployment benefits among US federal workers declined for a second straight week but remained elevated. There were 7,445 initial claims filed nationwide in the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees programme for the week ended Nov 1, according to data posted on the Labor Department’s website. Data from the same two locations were missing.
See also: US companies announce most October job cuts in over 20 Years
Continuing claims among federal workers climbed to 30,145 in the week ended Oct 25, the most since January 2019 — during the last government shutdown.
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