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

ESD reported a total of 26,693 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week ending May 8. Of this total, 16,605 initial claims were filed under the regular state unemployment insurance program; 2,485 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance program, which covers self-employed persons, independent contractors and part-time workers; and 7,603 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 an increase of 6,098 from the number of claims filed during the preceding week. ESD notes:

The increase in initial claims for both regular unemployment and from the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Assistance (PEUC) program this week are associated with a program change in the existing PEUC application process. Some PEUC applications that were applied incorrectly were adjusted and moved to the correct unemployment claim. … Increases in layoffs in Public Administration, Retail Trade, Health Care and Social Assistance, and Construction also contributed to the increase in regular initial claims last week.

The four-week moving average of regular initial claims is 12,989, down 169 from the preceding week. I estimate that the seasonally adjusted 4-week average of regular initial claims was 14,893 up from 14,328 (revised) the preceding week.

The number of initial claims under the two federal pandemic programs is an increase of 5,971 from the number filed during the preceding week.

ESD reports that continuing claims for unemployment insurance totaled 409,421 in the most recent week. This is an increase of 19,788 from the number reported for the preceding week.

The ESD press release is posted here.