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

ESD reported a total of 26,316 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week ending January 30. Of this total, 16,102 initial claims were filed under the regular state unemployment insurance program; 3,623 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance program, which covers self-employed persons, independent contractors and part-time workers; and 6,591 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 359 from the number of claims filed during the preceding week. ESD notes:

Reductions in layoffs in accommodation and food services drove a decrease in new regular jobless claims last week. Regular initial claims in the accommodation and food services sector decreased by 219 claims over the week to 1,595 total regular initial claims.

The four-week moving average of regular initial claims is 19,713, down 3,387 from the preceding week. I estimate that the seasonally adjusted 4-week average of regular initial claims was 17,026 up from 18,600 (revised) the preceding week.

The number of initial claims under the two federal pandemic programs is a decrease of 547 from the number filed during the preceding week.

ESD reports that continuing claims for unemployment insurance totaled 463,425 in the most recent week. This is an increase of 8,489 from the number reported for the preceding week.

ESD notes:

Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (PUEC) claims accounted for the increase in continued claims over the week. Pandemic Unemployment Compensation claims increased across all industry sectors over the week, with Accommodation and Food services (+5,944) and Construction (+2,518) sectors experiencing the largest increases.

The ESD press release is here.