EconoIndicators

Jobless Claims At a Glance

• Initial Claims: 317,000
• Change from Last Week: Up 16,000
• Prior Week Revision: Down by 10,000
• 4-Week Moving Average: 312,750
• Insured Unemployment Rate: 1.9%
• Insured Unemployment: 2,541,000

All numbers seasonally adjusted.

Technorati Tags: jobless, unemployment, claims

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Sept. 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 317,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 301,000. The 4-week moving average was 312,750, an increase of 500 from the previous week’s revised average of 312,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent for the week ending Sept. 22, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 1.9 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Sept. 22 was 2,541,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the preceding week’s unrevised level of 2,551,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,557,250, a decrease of 12,750 from the preceding week’s unrevised average of 2,570,000.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 253,554 in the week ending Sept. 29, an increase of 4,930 from the previous week. There were 249,288 initial claims in the comparable week in 2006.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent during the week ending Sept. 22, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,144,440, a decrease of 21,214 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.6 percent and the volume was 2,056,523.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Sept. 15.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,439 in the week ending Sept. 22, an increase of 405 from the prior week. There were 1,771 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 233 from the preceding week.

There were 14,078 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Sept. 15, an increase of 458 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 22,280, an increase of 203 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Sept. 15 were in Puerto Rico (3.4 percent), New Jersey (2.5), Michigan (2.4), Pennsylvania (2.3), Alaska (2.2), Arkansas (2.2), California (2.2), Rhode Island (2.2), Massachusetts (2.0), and Oregon (2.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Sept. 22 were in Florida (+768), Wisconsin (+582), Kansas (+510), Mississippi (+325), and Kentucky (+279), while the largest decreases were in Georgia (-2,712), South Carolina (-2,304), North Carolina (-1,990), Michigan(-1,577), and Indiana
(-1,411).

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 09/22/2007 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

Source: Labor Department, Employment and Training Administration