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

ESD reported a total of 6,394 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week ending July 24. Of this total, 4,554 initial claims were filed under the regular state unemployment insurance program; 1,362 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance program, which covers self-employed persons, independent contractors and part-time workers; and 478 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 507 from the number of claims filed during the preceding week. ESD notes:

Decreases in layoffs in Construction and Health Care and Social Assistance contributed to the decrease in regular initial claims last week.

The four-week moving average of regular initial claims is 5,257, down 738 from the preceding week. I estimate that the seasonally adjusted 4-week average of regular initial claims was 6,229 down from 7,807 (revised) the preceding week.

The number of initial claims under the two federal pandemic programs is a decrease of 307 from the number filed during the preceding week.

ESD reports that continuing claims for unemployment insurance totaled 304,703 in the most recent week. This is 3,937 less than the number reported last week.

The ESD press release is posted here.