EconoIndicators

Jobless Claims At a Glance

• Initial Claims: 346,000
• Change from Last Week: Up 12,000
• Prior Week Revision: Down 4,000
• 4-Week Moving Average: 343,000
• Insured Unemployment Rate: 2.0%
• Insured Unemployment: 2,646,000

All numbers seasonally adjusted.

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UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Dec. 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 346,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 334,000. The 4-week moving average was 343,000, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 338,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending Dec. 8, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 2.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Dec. 8 was 2,646,000, an increase of 12,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 2,634,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,633,000, an increase of 23,000 from the preceding week’s revised average of 2,610,000.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 390,586 in the week ending Dec. 15, a decrease of 32,797 from the previous week. There were 361,672 initial claims in the comparable week in 2006.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent during the week ending Dec. 8, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,708,998, an increase of 85,510 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.0 percent and the volume was 2,577,271.

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

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,603 in the week ending Dec. 8, a decrease of 390 from the prior week. There were 1,824 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 58 from the preceding week.

There were 16,372 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Dec. 1, a decrease of 1,220 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 23,813, a decrease of 1,749 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Dec. 1 were in Alaska (3.9 percent), Pennsylvania (3.2), Michigan (3.1), Puerto Rico (2.9), California (2.8), Oregon (2.8), Arkansas (2.7), New Jersey (2.7), Wisconsin (2.7), and Rhode Island (2.6).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Dec. 8 were in Illinois (+4,230), Ohio (+3,996), Kentucky (+2,725), Massachusetts (+2,552), and Iowa (+2,066), while the largest decreases were in New York (-9,272), North Carolina (-9,038), Pennsylvania (-6,393), Georgia (-6,165), and South Carolina (-4,709).

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 132,623,886 as denominator.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 12/08/2007 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

Unemployment Claims State Detail