The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 19 was 2,832,693, an increase of 10,353 from the previous week (on an unadjusted basis) but the headlines will gloat of the drop in initial claims after last week's rather disturbing spike (which temporarily destroyed the pent-up demand post-weather meme). Initial claims dropped 26k to 319k, beating expectations. New York and Massachusetts saw the largest increase in claims while Michigan and New Jersey the largest drop.
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The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 19 were in Alaska (4.9), New Jersey (3.5), Connecticut (3.4), Puerto Rico (3.3), California (3.2), Illinois (3.0), Pennsylvania (3.0), Nevada (2.9), Maine (2.6), and Michigan (2.6).