In the week ending April 30, unemployment claims rose by 19,000 bringing the total number of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims to 200,000. This is the largest number of claims made since mid-February.

                By                    Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy

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This is the biggest weekly increase in claims since last July, according to MarketWatch.

Once again, New York saw the largest increase in claims, by far, with 7,342 added claims.

Other states with large increases in claims include:

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  • Illinois (+3,169)
  • Kentucky (+1,180)
  • Michigan (+1.048)

Meanwhile, some states saw large decreases in new claims last week, including Massachusetts, which led the pack with a 3,078 decrease in claims. Other states with large decreases in claims include:

  • New Jersey (-2,741)
  • Connecticut (-2,316)
  • California (-2.135)
  • North Dakota (-2,194)

In terms of the largest increases in initial claims for the previous week, ending April 23, they were in New York (+4,760), Massachusetts (+3,491), Connecticut (+1,045), Georgia (+932), and New Jersey (+888), while the largest decreases were in California (-2,860), Ohio (-2,609), Michigan (-1,887), Washington (-475), and Minnesota (-453).

The Labor Department data shows that for the week ended April 23, in New York, there were layoffs in the transportation and warehousing, accommodation and food services, and public administration industries.

For that same week, in California, there were fewer layoffs in the service industry, while in Michigan, there were fewer layoffs in the wholesale trade industry.

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For the week ending April 30, the four-week moving average was 188,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 179,750 to 180,000.