How many people are claiming unemployment benefits in the United States?
Initial unemployment claims fell by 1,000 last week to 194,000. This brings the 4-week moving average to 189,500.
The total number of beneficiaries was 1,696,000, down from 2,063,573 recorded during the same week in 2022. States with the highest percentage of workers receiving UI benefits for the week ending on 28 January were New Jersey (2.6), Rhode Island (2.5), California (2.3), Minnesota (2.3), Alaska (2.2), Massachusetts (2.2), Montana (2.1), Illinois (2.0), Puerto Rico (2.0), Connecticut (1.9), and New York (1.9).