US Department of Labor today reported a continued surge in initial claims for Unemployment Insurance for the week ending April 11, although claims were again down from their peak the week of March 28. Nationally, actual claims (not seasonally adjusted (NSA)) were at 4,971,823, while the seasonally adjusted (SA) level used for trend analysis was 5,245,000. California had the highest number of initial claims at 660,966 (NSA), with EDD commenting that there were fewer layoffs in construction and manufacturing. Table below compares the latest data to the prior weeks. California’s initial claim rate as a percentage of the labor force (February numbers) was 3.4%, the 16th highest among the states. Continuing claims for the week of April 4 were equivalent to 7.4% of the labor force, although these numbers do not include unemployed among the state’s 2 million self-employed workers or longer term unemployed no longer receiving UI benefits.

Much of the recent weeks’ data reflects claims coming from workers in primarily many service occupations directly impacted by the social distancing measures. There are indications that additional rounds of claims may be coming from a next wave of layoffs as reduced business activity overall begins to affect workers who previously were able to continue through remote work options. The degree of this next wave will be indicated in the upcoming weeks of data.