EconoIndicators

Jobless Claims At a Glance

• Initial Claims: 318,000
• Change from Last Week: Down 19,000
• 4-Week Moving Average: 325,750
• Insured Unemployment Rate: 2.0%
• Insured Unemployment: 2,598,000

All numbers seasonally adjusted.

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UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Sept. 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 318,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 337,000. The 4-week moving average was 325,750, an increase of 500 from the previous week’s revised average of 325,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending Aug. 25, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s revised rate of 1.9 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 25 was 2,598,000, an increase of 25,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 2,573,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,571,500, an increase of 12,000 from the preceding week’s revised average of 2,559,500.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 259,533 in the week ending Sept. 1, a decrease of 6,851 from the previous week. There were 259,539 initial claims in the comparable week in 2006.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent during the week ending Aug. 25, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,358,649, a decrease of 10,915 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.7 percent and the volume was 2,240,524.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Aug. 18.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,324 in the week ending Aug. 25, an increase of 127 from the prior week. There were 1,888 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 112 from the preceding week.

There were 14,441 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Aug. 18, an increase of 197 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 21,752, an increase of 375 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Aug. 18 were in Puerto Rico (3.1 percent), New Jersey (3.0), Rhode Island (2.9), Pennsylvania (2.8), Massachusetts (2.5), Michigan (2.5), Alaska (2.4), Arkansas (2.4), Connecticut (2.4), and California (2.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Aug. 25 were in New York (+3,181), Wisconsin (+3,043), California (+2,208), Pennsylvania (+2,017), and Illinois (+1,243), while the largest decreases were in North Carolina (-2,125), Michigan (-1,110), Florida (-948), Alabama (-902), and Tennessee (-813).

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 08/25/2007 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

Jobless Claims State Detail Prior Week