Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Data - 2020 year to date (Updated thru 04/25/2020)This map contain Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims data, from the United State Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration, starting on 01/01/2020 and updated weekly. These data are used in current economic analysis of unemployment trends in the nation, and in each state. Initial claims is a measure of emerging unemployment. It counts the number of new persons claiming unemployment benefits and it is released after one week.Continued claims is a measure of the total number of persons claiming unemployment benefits, and it is released one week later than the initial claims.The data is organized by state, with the following attributes (as defined by the United State Department of Labor) repeated for each weekWeek/date when claims were filedNumber of initial claimsWeek/date reflected in the data weekNumber of continued claims Total covered employment Insured unemployment rateThe latest information on unemployment insurance claims can be found here.TECHNICAL NOTESThese data represent the weekly unemployment insurance (UI) claims reported by each state's unemployment insurance program offices. These claims may be used for monitoring workload volume, assessing state program operations and for assessing labor market conditions. States initially report claims directly taken by the state liable for the benefit payments, regardless of where the claimant who filed the claim resided. These are the basis for the advance initial claims and continued claims reported each week. These data come from ETA 538, Advance Weekly Initial and Continued Claims Report. The following week initial claims and continued claims are revised based on a second reporting by states that reflect the claimants by state of residence. These data come from the ETA 539, Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data Report.A. Initial ClaimsAn initial claim is a claim filed by an unemployed individual after a separation from an employer. The claimant requests a determination of basic eligibility for the UI program. When an initial claim is filed with a state, certain programmatic activities take place and these result in activity counts including the count of initial claims. The count of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance is a leading economic indicator because it is an indication of emerging labor market conditions in the country. However, these are weekly administrative data which are difficult to seasonally adjust, making the series subject to some volatility.B. Continued Weeks ClaimedA person who has already filed an initial claim and who has experienced a week of unemployment then files a continued claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment. Continued claims are also referred to as insured unemployment. The count of U.S. continued weeks claimed is also a good indicator of labor market conditions. Continued claims reflect the current number of insured unemployed workers filing for UI benefits in the nation. While continued claims are not a leading indicator (they roughly coincide with economic cycles at their peaks and lag at cycle troughs), they provide confirming evidence of the direction of the U.S. economyC. Seasonal Adjustments and Annual RevisionsOver the course of a year, the weekly changes in the levels of initial claims and continued claims undergo regularly occurring fluctuations. These fluctuations may result from seasonal changes in weather, major holidays, the opening and closing of schools, or other similar events. Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each year, their influence on the level of a series can be tempered by adjusting for regular seasonal variation. These adjustments make trend and cycle developments easier to spot. At the beginning of each calendar year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) with a set of seasonal factors to apply to the unadjusted data during that year. Concurrent with the implementation and release of the new seasonal factors, ETA incorporates revisions to the UI claims historical series caused by updates to the unadjusted data.

In May 2025, 2.8 billion U.S. dollars were paid out in unemployment benefits in the United States. This is a decrease from April 2025, when 3.2 billion U.S. dollars were paid in unemployment benefits. The large figures seen in 2020 are largely due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Welfare in the U.S. Unemployment benefits first started in 1935 during the Great Depression as a part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The Social Security Act of 1935 ensured that Americans would not fall deeper into poverty. The United States was the only developed nation in the world at the time that did not offer any welfare benefits. This program created unemployment benefits, Medicare and Medicaid, and maternal and child welfare. The only major welfare program that the United States currently lacks is a paid maternity leave policy. Currently, the United States only offers 12 unpaid weeks of leave, under certain circumstances. However, the number of people without health insurance in the United States has greatly decreased since 2010. Unemployment benefits Current unemployment benefits in the United States vary from state to state due to unemployment being funded by both the state and the federal government. The average duration of people collecting unemployment benefits in the United States has fluctuated since January 2020, from as little as 4.55 weeks to as many as 50.32 weeks. The unemployment rate varies by ethnicity, gender, and education levels. For example, those aged 16 to 24 have faced the highest unemployment rates since 1990 during the pandemic. In February 2023, the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV metropolitan area had the highest unemployment rate in the United States.

Decrease the average number of weeks that recipients receive state unemployment insurance benefits from 16.58 weeks in 2013 to 13.9 weeks by 2018.

The UI weekly claims data are used in current economic analysis of unemployment trends in the Nation, and in each State. Initial claims measure emerging unemployment and continued weeks claimed measure the number of persons claiming unemployment benefits.

Initial Jobless Claims in the United States decreased to 216 thousand in the week ending November 22 of 2025 from 222 thousand in the previous week. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Initial Jobless Claims - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Graph and download economic data for Continued Claims (Insured Unemployment) (CCSA) from 1967-01-07 to 2025-11-15 about continued claims, headline figure, insurance, unemployment, and USA.

Historical series of the State Unemployment Insurance (UI) Weekly Claims & Extended Benefits Trigger Data Reports (ETA-539) which contain data used in the production of the UI Weekly Claims news release. The data also includes information of the Extended Benefit program trigger status and includes the information provided by states to the US Department of Labor indicating the weekly extended benefits trigger status.

Graph and download economic data for 4-Week Moving Average of Initial Claims (IC4WSA) from 1967-01-28 to 2025-11-22 about moving average, initial claims, 1-month, average, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for 4-Week Moving Average of Continued Claims (Insured Unemployment) (CC4WSA) from 1967-01-28 to 2025-11-15 about moving average, continued claims, 1-month, insurance, average, unemployment, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Initial Claims (ICSA) from 1967-01-07 to 2025-11-22 about initial claims, headline figure, and USA.

During the week ending December 31, 2022, about 204,000 initial unemployment claims were made. This is a decrease from the week prior, when initial unemployment claims stood at 223,000. The number of unemployment claims tends to fluctuate rapidly in response to national or global events such as shortages, pandemics, and wars. Initial unemployment claims reached a record high during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching nearly seven million unique initial claims by the end of March, 2020. The restaurant and retail industries in the United States were particularly impacted.

Initial Claims for UI released by the CT Department of Labor. Initial Claims are applications for Unemployment Benefits. Initial Claims may not result in receiving UI benefits if the individual doesn't qualify. Claims data can be access directly from CT DOL here: https://www1.ctdol.state.ct.us/lmi/claimsdata.asp

The initial claims reported in these tables are "processed" claims to the extent that duplicates and "reopened" claims have been eliminated. The claim counts in this dataset may not match claim counts from other sources.

Claims are disaggregated by age, education, industry, race/national origin, sex, and wages.

The claim counts in this dataset may not match claim counts from other sources.

Unemployment claims tabulated in this dataset represent only one component of the unemployed. Claims do not account for those not covered under the Unemployment system (e.g. federal workers, railroad workers or religious workers) or the unemployed self-employed.

Claims filed for a particular week will change as time goes on and the backlog is addressed.

Continued Claims for UI released by the CT Department of Labor. Continued Claims are total number of individuals being paid benefits in any particular week.

Claims are disaggregated by age, education, industry, race/national origin, sex, and wages.

The claim counts in this dataset may not match claim counts from other sources.

Unemployment claims tabulated in this dataset represent only one component of the unemployed. Claims do not account for those not covered under the Unemployment system (e.g. federal workers, railroad workers or religious workers) or the unemployed self-employed.

Claims filed for a particular week will change as time goes on and the backlog is addressed.

For data on initial claims at the town level, see the dataset "Initial Claims for Unemployment Benefits by Town," here: https://data.ct.gov/Government/Initial-Claims-for-Unemployment-Benefits-by-Town/twvc-s7wy

For data on continued claims see the following two datasets:

"Continued Claims for Unemployment Benefits in Connecticut," https://data.ct.gov/Government/Continued-Claims-for-Unemployment-Benefits-in-Conn/f9e5-rn42

"Continued Claims for Unemployment Benefits by Town," https://data.ct.gov/Government/Continued-Claims-for-Unemployment-Benefits-by-Town/r83t-9bjm

Historical series of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Activities reports (ETA-902P) is specific to the temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program enacted by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This dataset contains information on PUA claims/workload and payment activities, PUA appeals activities, and PUA overpayment and recovery activities.

In August 2024, the average unemployment benefit collection duration in the United States reached a peak, amounting to 14.25 weeks. As the labor market weakens, average duration increases and as the labor market strengthens the average duration declines.

Graph and download economic data for Average Weeks Unemployed (UEMPMEAN) from Jan 1948 to Aug 2025 about 16 years +, household survey, unemployment, and USA.

Continuing Jobless Claims in the United States increased to 1960 thousand in the week ending November 15 of 2025 from 1953 thousand in the previous week. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Continuing Jobless Claims - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

This collection provides data on labor force activity for the week prior to the survey. Comprehensive data are available on the employment status, occupation, and industry of persons 15 years old and over. In addition, unemployed persons were asked a series of supplemental questions about unemployment compensation. The purpose of this supplement was to determine why a growing proportion of the unemployed were not receiving or had not been applying for benefits under the unemployment insurance program. Supplement questions focused on whether respondents had applied for unemployment benefits and whether they had received them since their last job, whether they had received an unemployment check in the week prior to the interview, reasons for not receiving unemployment compensation within the previous week, reasons respondents had not received unemployment compensation since their last job, and reasons for not applying for unemployment compensation. About a quarter of the unemployed respondents were asked the supplemental questions each month. These were respondents 15 years and older who reported either that they did not work in the previous week but had been working before and planned to begin a new job within 30 days, or were laid off, or looking for work. Unemployed persons who were trying to find employment for the first time were not considered eligible for the supplement. Personal characteristics such as age, sex, race, marital status, veteran status, household relationship, educational background, and Spanish origin are also included in the file.

Jobless Claims 4-week Average in the United States decreased to 223.75 Thousand in November 22 from 224.75 Thousand in the previous week. This dataset provides - United States Jobless Claims 4-week Average- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

This dataset reports total weekly unemployment insurance initial claims and continued weeks claimed statewide in Iowa by week. Data for the most current week is preliminary and will be revised the following week. Initial claims data for states are combined and published weekly by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. This national data is widely reported as an economic indicator. This data is based on the ETA-539 report. This dataset is based on administrative data. Claims activity represents the week the claims were processed. It may not always represent the week unemployment occurred.

The number of people filing for initial unemployment benefits by county and week.

Splitgraph serves as an HTTP API that lets you run SQL queries directly on this data to power Web applications. For example:

See the Splitgraph documentation for more information.