EconoIndicators

Jobless Claims At a Glance

• Initial Claims: 588,000
• Change from Last Week: Up 3,000
• 4-Week Moving Average: 542,500
• Insured Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
• Insured Unemployment: 4,776,000

All numbers seasonally adjusted.

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UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Jan. 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 588,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 585,000. The 4-week moving average was 542,500, an increase of 24,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 518,250.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending Jan. 17, an increase of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.4 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Jan. 17 was 4,776,000, an increase of 159,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,617,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,630,000, an increase of 66,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,563,500.  
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 617,289 in the week ending Jan. 24, a decrease of 146,776 from the previous week. There were 369,944 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.3 percent during the week ending Jan. 17, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,740,996, an increase of 89,879 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.4 percent and the volume was 3,249,574.
Extended benefits were available in North Carolina, Oregon, and Rhode Island during the week ending Jan. 10.
Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,838 in the week ending Jan. 17, a decrease of 722 from the prior week. There were 2,221 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 101 from the preceding week.
There were 20,225 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Jan. 10, a decrease of 1,098 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 27,219, an increase of 193 from the prior week.
States reported 1,718,686 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Jan. 10, a decrease of 373,020 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Jan. 10 were in Michigan (7.3 percent), Oregon (6.7), Idaho (6.5), South Carolina (6.0), Pennsylvania (5.8), Wisconsin (5.7), Indiana (5.5), Nevada (5.3), Montana (5.2), Puerto Rico (5.2), and Rhode Island (5.2).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Jan. 17 were in Florida (+6,500), California (+1,826), Puerto Rico (+1,308), Texas (+537), and Massachusetts (+86), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-33,365), North Carolina (-25,516), Georgia (-12,635), New York (-12,432), and Pennsylvania (-10,077).

Source: Employment and Training Administration