EconoIndicators

Jobless Claims At a Glance

• Initial Claims: 311,000
• Change from Last Week: Down 9,000
• Prior Week Revision: Increased by 1,000
• 4-Week Moving Average: 320,750
• Insured Unemployment Rate: 1.9%
• Insured Unemployment: 2,544,000

All numbers seasonally adjusted.

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UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Sept. 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 311,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 320,000. The 4-week moving average was 320,750, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 324,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent for the week ending Sept. 8, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 2.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Sept. 8 was 2,544,000, a decrease of 53,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 2,597,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,576,500, a decrease of 5,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 2,582,000.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 259,721 in the week ending Sept. 15, an increase of 14,270 from the previous week. There were 267,036 initial claims in the comparable week in 2006.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent during the week ending Sept. 8, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,246,792, an increase of 10,389 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.7 percent and the volume was 2,152,929.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Sept. 1.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 924 in the week ending Sept. 8, a decrease of 189 from the prior week. There were 1,646 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 202 from the preceding week.

There were 14,028 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Sept. 1, an increase of 253 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 21,407, a decrease of 29 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Sept. 1 were in Puerto Rico (4.2 percent), New Jersey (3.0), Pennsylvania (2.6), Rhode Island (2.6), Michigan (2.4), Arkansas (2.3), Massachusetts (2.3), Alaska (2.2), Connecticut (2.2), and Oregon (2.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Sept. 8 were in Michigan (+1,741), Georgia (+1,268), Arkansas (+455), Massachusetts (+405), and Washington (+381), while the largest decreases were in California (-4,349), Texas (-2,470), New York (-2,168), Florida (-1,998), and Wisconsin
(-1,770).

FOOTNOTES
SA – Seasonally Adjusted Data
NSA –
Not Seasonally Adjusted Data
¹ – Prior year is comparable
to most recent data.

² – Most recent week used covered employment of 132,170,980 as denominator.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 09/08/2007 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

State unemployment claims detail prior week

Source: Labor Department, Employment and Training Administration