Press Release  Massachusetts Monthly Unemployment Claimant Data for February 2023

MASSACHUSETTS — BOSTON, MA – March 16, 2023 – Massachusetts had 35,214 initial claims (IC) for regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) during the month of February, a decline of 1,623 from the previous month. Most initial claims this month were seen in Transportation & Warehouse, Construction, and Professional and Technical. Continued Weeks Claimed (CWC) decreased by 42,826 from the previous month to 337,016. Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting, Mining, and Utilities saw the highest number of continued claimants1 this month.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which was implemented on April 20, 2020, had 2 initial claims. There were 128 continued weeks claimed filed, an increase of 4 continued weeks claimed from the previous month. The PUA benefits program ended on September 4, 2021.

The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which was implemented on May 21, 2020, had a total of 11 initial claims. There were 142 continued weeks claimed, an increase of 17 from the previous month. The PEUC program ended on September 4, 2021.

The federal/state Extended Benefits (EB) program, which triggered on May 3, 2020, due to the high volume of claims, had no initial claims filed and had one continued week claimed in the current month. The EB program ended on July 17, 2021.

The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program, which was implemented on May 21, 2020, and provided an additional $300 per week on top of regular benefits, also ended on September 4, 2021, and has had no changes since. (*2)

1. Continued claimants are defined as individuals who have ongoing, active UI claims.

2. 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 Announcements section. Weekly UI claims reporting can be found at USDOL.

Most sectors experienced decreases in initial claimants filing over the month of February. Transportation & Warehouse had the largest increase of 2,762 (+166.1%), followed by Healthcare & Social Assistance at 851 (+36.5%), and Public Administration at 484 (+67.0%).

Most sectors experienced increases in continued claimants over the month of February. Arts, Entertainment & Recreation had the largest increase of 799 (+8.7%). The largest percentage increase was in Mining, which saw an increase of 39 claims (+19.8%).

NOTE: Future reporting on monthly claims and claimants will be in the form of a forthcoming data visualization on the Department of Economic Research’s website (https://www.mass.gov/economicresearch). Weekly UI claims reporting can be found at the U.S. Department of Labor’s website (https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims.asp).

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