EconoIndicators

Jobless Claims At a Glance

• Initial Claims: 586,000
• Change from Last Week: Up 30,000
• 4-Week Moving Average: 558,000
• Insured Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
• Insured Unemployment: 4,370,000

All numbers seasonally adjusted.

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UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Dec. 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 586,000, an increase of 30,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 556,000. The 4-week moving average was 558,000, an increase of 13,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 544,250.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.3 percent for the week ending Dec. 13, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.3 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Dec. 13 was 4,370,000, a decrease of 17,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,387,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,319,750, an increase of 93,000 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,226,750.  
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 715,496 in the week ending Dec. 20, an increase of 85,629 from the previous week. There were 456,272 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent during the week ending Dec. 13, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,592,793, an increase of 214,520 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.1 percent and the volume was 2,813,055.
Extended benefits were available in North Carolina and Rhode Island during the week ending Dec. 6.
Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,199 in the week ending Dec. 13, an increase of 144 from the prior week. There were 2,056 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 34 from the preceding week.
There were 18,460 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Dec. 6, an increase of 281 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 24,744, a decrease of 1,563 from the prior week.
States reported 1,426,540 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Dec. 6, an increase of 492,078 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Dec. 6 were in Oregon (5.2 percent), Puerto Rico (5.2), Michigan (4.9), Idaho (4.7), Pennsylvania (4.7), Nevada (4.6), Wisconsin (4.3), South Carolina (4.2), California (4.1), Alaska (4.0), Arkansas (4.0), and New Jersey (4.0).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Dec. 13 were in Oklahoma (+1,590), Connecticut (+1,286), Illinois (+962), Maine (+707), and Utah (+402), while the largest decreases were in North Carolina (-20,526), California (-16,493), Pennsylvania (-12,438), Georgia (-12,053), and South Carolina (-8,432).

Source: Employment and Training Administration