EconoIndicators

Jobless Claims At a Glance

• Initial Claims: 371,000
• Change from Last Week: Up 6,000
• 4-Week Moving Average: 365,750
• Insured Unemployment Rate: 2.3%
• Insured Unemployment: 3,060,000

All numbers seasonally adjusted.

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UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending May 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 371,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 365,000. The 4-week moving average was 365,750, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 366,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending May 3, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 2.3 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 3 was 3,060,000, an increase of 28,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,032,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,017,000, an increase of 15,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,001,750.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 2,838,249.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 322,942 in the week ending May 10, a decrease of 10,087 from the previous week. There were 258,516 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent during the week ending May 3, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,833,473, a decrease of 123,173 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.7 percent and the volume was 2,290,364.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending April 26.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 911 in the week ending May 3, an increase of 47 from the prior week. There were 1,370 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 26 from the preceding week.

There were 12,271 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 26, an increase of 485 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 20,947, a decrease of 338 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 26 were in Puerto Rico (4.3 percent), Alaska (4.2), Michigan (3.9), Oregon (3.3), California (3.1), Rhode Island (3.1), New Jersey (3.0), Pennsylvania (3.0), Vermont (3.0), and Wisconsin (2.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 3 were in New York (+11,414), Pennsylvania (+2,716), Wisconsin (+1,023), Virginia (+784), and Illinois (+781), while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts (-5,027), New Jersey (-3,259), Georgia (-2,935), Oregon (-2,011), and Michigan (-1,939).

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 133,382,559 as denominator.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 05/03/2008 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

State Unemployment Claims Detail 050308

Source: EMployment and Training Administration