Unemployment Claims Remain at Highest Level in 20 Months

U.S. unemployment claims were flat last week, remaining at the highest level in 20 months.

The seasonally adjusted initial claims for the week ending June 16 totaled 264,000 — unchanged from the previous week, which was revised up from 262,000 to 264,000, the U.S. Department of Labor said in a Thursday (June 22) press release.

Last week’s initial claims were up from 262,000 two weeks earlier, a total that was revised up from 261,000.

The totals seen last week and the week before — 264,000 — were the highest numbers of initial claims recorded since late October 2021.

While the initial claims remained flat last week, the four-week moving average increased by 8,500 to 255,750 and reached its highest level since Nov. 13, 2021, when it stood at 260,000, according to the press release.

Among the companies that cut jobs during the week included in the report was Binance.US, which reportedly laid off 50 after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused parent company Binance of securities law violations and tried to freeze the assets of Binance.US.

Four days earlier, on June 12, food delivery service Grubhub reduced its staffing levels by 15%, or about 400 employees, amid ongoing pressures on its industry.

The latest weekly report from the Labor Department follows a month in which U.S. employers cut more than 80,000 jobs, with the technology sector being hardest hit, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

As of the end of May, employers have announced 417,500 job cuts this year, the career transition specialist firm said, adding that the total is the highest for a January-May period since 2020.

“With the exception of 2020, it is the highest total in the first five months of the year since 2009, when 822,282 cuts were tracked through May,” Challenger, Gray and Christmas said when announcing the figures.

The Labor Department also reported Tuesday that the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the week ended June 10 was 1.2%, which was unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.

Insured unemployment totaled 1,759,000 that week, a figure that was 13,000 lower than the previous week’s revised level, according to the press release.