Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—April 17, 2014.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending April 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 304,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 300,000 to 302,000. The 4-week moving average was 312,000, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since October 6, 2007 when it was 302,000. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 316,250 to 316,750.
There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent for the week ending April 5, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate of 2.1 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 5 was 2,739,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since December 15, 2007 when it was 2,737,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 26,000 from 2,776,000 to 2,750,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,785,250, a decrease of 32,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since January 19, 2008 when it was 2,777,500. The previous week’s average was revised down by 6,500 from 2,824,250 to 2,817,750.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 317,701 in the week ending April 12, an increase of 17,512 (or 5.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 16,022 (or 5.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 359,415 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent during the week ending April 5, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,851,790, a decrease of 90,390 (or -3.1) percent from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 79,741 (or -2.7 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.5 percent and the volume was 3,195,675.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending March 29 was 3,007,392, a decrease of 155,971 from the previous week. There were 5,146,499 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2013.
No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending March 29.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 999 in the week ending April 5, a decrease of 31 from the prior week. There were 1,817 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 68 from the preceding week.
There were 16,583 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 29, a decrease of 1,588 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 26,344, a decrease of 1,633 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 29 were in Alaska (4.9), Connecticut (3.5), Pennsylvania (3.5), New Jersey (3.4), Rhode Island (3.4), California (3.2), Puerto Rico (3.2), Illinois (3.1), Massachusetts (3.1), and Wisconsin (3.1).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 5 were in Michigan (+4,285), Pennsylvania (+2,335), New Jersey (+1,630), Florida (+1,624), and Georgia (+1,453), while the largest decreases were in California (-13,892),Iowa (-1,266), Kentucky (-699), Tennessee (-582), and Idaho (-383).
Source: dol.gov
