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

ESD reported a total of 7,208 initial claims for unemployment insurance during the week ending July 17. Of this total, 5,061 initial claims were filed under the regular state unemployment insurance program; 1,604 claims were under the federal pandemic unemployment assistance program, which covers self-employed persons, independent contractors and part-time workers; and 543 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 427 from the number of claims filed during the preceding week. ESD notes:

Decreases in layoffs in Educational Services and Retail Trade contributed to the decrease in regular initial claims last week.

The four-week moving average of regular initial claims is 5,995, down 621 from the preceding week. I estimate that the seasonally adjusted 4-week average of regular initial claims was 6,716 down from 7,299 (revised) the preceding week.

The number of initial claims under the two federal pandemic programs is an increase of 319 from the number filed during the preceding week. ESD notes:

Initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) … occurred in three occupations: Production, Office and Administration as well as Building and Grounds Cleaning & Maintenance. … Initial claims for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) … occurred in three service categories: Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation as well as Professional, Scientific and Technical services.

ESD reports that continuing claims for unemployment insurance totaled 308,640 in the most recent week. This is 24,248 less than the number reported last week.

The ESD press release will be posted here.