EconoIndicators

Jobless Claims At a Glance

• Initial Claims: 573,000
• Change from Last Week: Up 58,000
• 4-Week Moving Average: 540,500
• Insured Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
• Insured Unemployment: 4,429,000

All numbers seasonally adjusted.

Technorati Tags: jobless, unemployment, claims

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Dec. 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 573,000, an increase of 58,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 515,000. The 4-week moving average was 540,500, an increase of 14,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 526,250.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.3 percent for the week ending Nov. 29, an increase of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.1 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Nov. 29 was 4,429,000, an increase of 338,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,091,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,133,500, an increase of 130,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,002,750.  
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 757,481 in the week ending Dec. 6, an increase of 221,735 from the previous week. There were 423,130 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent during the week ending Nov. 29, an increase of 0.7 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,490,760, an increase of 837,333 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.0 percent and the volume was 2,623,051.
Extended benefits were available in North Carolina and Rhode Island during the week ending Nov. 22.
Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,665 in the week ending Nov. 29, a decrease of 291 from the prior week. There were 1,275 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 555 from the preceding week.
There were 15,656 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Nov. 22, an increase of 107 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 22,286, a decrease of 2,139 from the prior week.
States reported 673,949 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Nov. 22, a decrease of 35,949 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Nov. 22 were in Puerto Rico (5.0 percent), Oregon (4.5), Michigan (4.3), Nevada (4.1), Idaho (3.9), Alaska (3.8), Pennsylvania (3.7), South Carolina (3.7), New Jersey (3.6), and Wisconsin (3.5).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Nov. 29 were in Wisconsin (+16,331), Iowa (+6,240), Arkansas (+1,509), Mississippi (+1,398), and North Dakota (+1,391), while the largest decreases were in California (-20,304), Florida (-8,626), Missouri (-8,347), Michigan (-7,323), and Texas (-7,129).

Source: Employment and Training Administration