Unemployment Insurance Claims Report

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued the following news release:

SEASONAL DATA
In the week ending Aug. 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 550,000, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 588,000.

The 4-week moving average was 555,250, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average of 560,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.7 percent for the week ending July 25, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.7 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 25 was 6,310,000, an increase of 69,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6,241,000.

The 4-week moving average was 6,278,750, a decrease of 148,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,427,250.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.522 million.


UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 463,062 in the week ending Aug. 1, a decrease of 48,296 from the previous week.

There were 382,792 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.5 percent during the week ending July 25, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week.

The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,987,728, a decrease of 116,319 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.4 percent and the volume was 3,166,763.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin during the week ending July 18.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,661 in the week ending July 25, a decrease of 30 from the prior week.

There were 1,981 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 80 from the preceding week.

There were 19,783 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending July 18, an increase of 1,066 from the previous week.

Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 30,107, an increase of 175 from the prior week.

States reported 2,754,391 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending July 18, an increase of 97,512 from the prior week.

There were 607,368 claimants in the comparable week in 2008.

EUC weekly claims include both first and second tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending July 18 were in Puerto Rico (8.0 percent), Michigan (6.7), Oregon (6.5), Pennsylvania (6.5), Nevada (6.1), Wisconsin (5.7), Connecticut (5.5), New Jersey (5.5), California (5.4), Rhode Island (5.3), and South Carolina (5.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 25 were in Ohio (+891), Oklahoma (+644), Mississippi (+222), Louisiana (+154), and Alaska (+129), while the largest decreases were in North Carolina (-9,809), Michigan (-9,085), Florida (-8,714), Georgia (-6,948), and Alabama (-3,822).

Tables omitted. (The complete tables can be viewed at: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/eta20090907.htm)

photo credits: general stock photo from web.

Last Updated ( Friday, 07 August 2009 )