This morning the state Employment Security Department (ESD) gave its weekly report on unemployment insurance claims. This is the first report to include claims under the special federal programs related to the COVID–19 pandemic.

ESD reported a total of 496,718 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the April 19–April 25 week. Of this total, 137,605 initial claims were under the regular unemployment insurance program; 190,948 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance program, which covers self-employed persons, independent contractors and part-time workers; and 168,165 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment compensation program, which extends the maximum term of benefits from 26 weeks to 39 weeks.

The 137,605 new claims for regular unemployment insurance is an increase of 55,170 from the 82,435 claims filed during the preceding week. The four-week moving average of initial claims is 133,335, down from 144,429 for the preceding week.

We estimate that the seasonally adjusted 4-week average of initial claims was 139,200, down from 150,280 the preceding week.

ESD reports that continuing claims for unemployment insurance totaled 959,190 in the most recent week. This is an increase of 436,111 over the number reported for the preceding week.