EconoIndicators

Jobless Claims At a Glance

• Initial Claims: 338,000
• Change from Last Week: Down 15,000
• Prior Week Revision: Up by 23,000
• 4-Week Moving Average: 340,250
• Insured Unemployment Rate: 2.0%
• Insured Unemployment: 2,599,000

All numbers seasonally adjusted.

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UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Dec. 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 338,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 353,000. The 4-week moving average was 340,250, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 335,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending Nov. 24, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 2.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Nov. 24 was 2,599,000, a decrease of 59,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 2,658,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,593,750, an increase of 6,000 from the preceding week’s revised average of 2,587,750.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 461,767 in the week ending Dec. 1, an increase of 137,638 from the previous week. There were 448,898 initial claims in the comparable week in 2006.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent during the week ending Nov. 24, an increase of 0.4 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,731,681, an increase of 514,527 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.0 percent and the volume was 2,620,460.
P>Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Nov. 17.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,206 in the week ending Nov. 24, a decrease of 543 from the prior week. There were 1,086 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 412 from the preceding week.

There were 14,206 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Nov. 17, a decrease of 1,074 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 21,649, a decrease of 1,280 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Nov. 17 were in Alaska (3.7 percent), Michigan (2.9), New Jersey (2.6), Pennsylvania (2.6), Oregon (2.5), Arkansas (2.4), Rhode Island (2.3), Massachusetts (2.2), Wisconsin (2.1), California (2.0), Connecticut (2.0), Nevada (2.0), and South Carolina (2.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Nov. 24 were in Wisconsin (+14,126), Pennsylvania (+4,411), Iowa (+3,435), Arkansas (+2,571), and Indiana (+2,060), while the largest decreases were in California (-10,435), North Carolina (4,142), Texas (-3,425), Georgia (-2,939), and Florida (-2,868).

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 11/24/2007 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

State Unemployment Claims Detail November 24, 2007

Source: Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration