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

ESD reported a total of 200,263 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the April 26–May 2 week. Of this total, 100,762 initial claims were under the regular unemployment insurance program; 59,234 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance program, which covers self-employed persons, independent contractors and part-time workers; and 40,267 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment compensation program, which extends the maximum term of benefits from 26 weeks to 39 weeks.

The 100,762 new claims for regular unemployment insurance is a decrease of 36,843 from the 137,605 claims filed during the preceding week. The four-week moving average of regular initial claims is 116,011, down from 133,335 for the preceding week.

The 99,501 initial claims under the two pandemic programs is a decrease of 259,612 from the 359,113 filed during the preceding week.

We estimate that the seasonally adjusted 4-week average of regular initial claims was 125,180, down from 139,200 the preceding week.

ESD reports that continuing claims for unemployment insurance totaled 885,768 in the most recent week. This is a decrease of 73,422 from the number reported for the preceding week.

The ESD press release is here.