This morning the state Employment Security Department (ESD) gave its weekly report on unemployment insurance claims.

ESD reported a total of 18,654 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week ending March 20. Of this total, 11,398 initial claims were filed under the regular state unemployment insurance program; 3,383 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance program, which covers self-employed persons, independent contractors and part-time workers; and 3,873 claims were filed under the federal pandemic unemployment compensation program, which adds 13 weeks to the maximum term of benefits.

The number of new claims for regular unemployment insurance is a decrease of 301 from the number of claims filed during the preceding week. ESD notes:

Decreases in layoffs in Retail trade, Manufacturing and Construction led the overall decrease in regular initial claims last week.

The four-week moving average of regular initial claims is 11,954, down 661 from the preceding week. I estimate that the seasonally adjusted 4-week average of regular initial claims was 13,400 down from 13,799 (revised) the preceding week.

The number of initial claims under the two federal pandemic programs is a decrease of 15 from the number filed during the preceding week.

ESD reports that continuing claims for unemployment insurance totaled 417,021 in the most recent week. This is a decrease of 13,847 from the number reported for the preceding week.

The ESD press release is here.