MASSACHUSETTS —  MONTHLY UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMANT DATA

BOSTON, MA— May 19, 2022—Massachusetts had a total of 20,592 initial claims for regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) during the month of April, an increase of 2,591 claims from the previous month. Most initial claims (IC) this month were seen in Transportation and Warehousing, Construction, and Healthcare and Social Assistance. Continued Weeks Claimed (CWC) decreased by 68,048 from the previous month to 209,482. Most CWC were seen in Construction, Administrative and Waste, and Healthcare and Social Assistance.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which was implemented on May 21, 2020, had a total of 3 initial claims filed and 1,455 continued weeks claimed, a decrease of 353 continued weeks claims from the month of March. The PUA benefits program ended on September 4, 2021.

The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which was implemented on May 21, 2020, had a total of 73 initial claims. Continued weeks claimed dropped by 24 to 472 claims. The PEUC program ended on September 4, 2021.

The federal/state Extended Benefits (EB) program, which ended on July 17, 2021, had no change in initial or continued week claims from the previous month.

The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), which was implemented on May 21, 2020 and provided an additional $300 a week on top of regular benefits, also ended on September 4, 2021 and has had no changes since.

NOTE: Following the termination of pandemic assistance (PUA, FPUC, PEUC) and long-term benefit (EB) programs, claims reports will be published in conjunction with the Massachusetts Unemployment and Job Estimates monthly releases, at mass.gov/lwd in the News and Updates section. Weekly UI claims reporting can be found at https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf.

  

 

OVER-THE-MONTH CHANGES BY NAICS

Due to data availability, the following tables and graphs use weekly aggregates of initial and continued weeks claimed for the weeks ending March 12, March 19, March 26, April 2, 2022, to represent March (MAR) and April 9, April 16, April 23, and April 30 to represent April (APR).

Twelve industries saw increases in initial claims over the month of April. Transportation and Warehousing leads with the greatest number of initial claims, up 3,725 (+595%) claims from March’s four-week aggregate. This is followed by Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting (+108%), and Other Services (+23%). The largest drop in initial claims is seen in Construction (-11%). All industries except for Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting, Food and Accommodation and Administrative and Waste industries show similar initial claims trends from prior years (2014 to 2018) during the same period.

All sectors except for Transportation and Warehousing saw a decrease in CWC over the month. Transportation and Warehousing saw a 25% increase over the month while Construction (-31%), Administrative and Waste (-39%), Food and Accommodation (-31%), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (-44%), and Other Services (-21%) saw significant drops in CWC over this period. The largest number of CWC of 7,958 are seen in Middlesex County over the month of April. Middlesex County has almost 25% of Massachusetts’ labor force and 16% of the unemployed, according to March 2022 Local Area Employment Statistics (LAUS).

At the peak of the pandemic, the industries with the highest number of CWC were Construction, Retail Trade, Food and Accommodation, Health Care and Social Assistance, and Other Services. Construction and Administrative and Waste Management sectors see cyclical increases as expected during the early months of 2022. The steady decline in CWC in other sectors could be due to the unemployed reaching their 26-week benefit limit or switching to different sectors.

 

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWNS**

The following includes demographic statistics on ethnicity, gender, and race for all unique claimants who filed for a continued week during April’s four week reference period (four weeks ending April 30th, 2022).

 

 

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