Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—September 18, 2014.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending September 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 280,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 315,000 to 316,000. The 4-week moving average was 299,500, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 304,000 to 304,250. There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent for the week ending September 6, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 6 was 2,429,000, a decrease of 63,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since May 19, 2007 when it was 2,417,000. The previous week’s level was revised up 5,000 from 2,487,000 to 2,492,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,481,750, a decrease of 18,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since June 23, 2007 when it was 2,477,250. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 2,498,750 to 2,500,000.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 241,074 in the week ending September 13, an increase of 6,358 (or 2.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 37,277 (or 15.9 percent) from the previous week. There were 272,946 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent during the week ending September 6, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,164,511, a decrease of 48,227 (or -2.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 7,475 (or 0.3 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.9 percent and the volume was 2,499,855. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending August 30 was 2,264,224, a decrease of 110,090 from the previous week. There were 3,891,893 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 August 30.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,539 in the week ending September 6, an increase of 363 from the prior week. There were 2,000 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 118 from the preceding week. There were 14,315 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending August 30, a decrease of 935 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 23,685, a decrease of 755 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 30 were in Puerto Rico (3.9), New Jersey (3.3), Alaska (3.0), Connecticut (2.7), Pennsylvania (2.5), California (2.3), Massachusetts (2.3), New York (2.2), Nevada (2.1), Rhode Island (2.1), Virgin Islands (2.1), and District of Columbia (2.0).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 6 were in New Jersey (+2,918), Illinois (+912), Nebraska (+877), Kansas (+670), and Tennessee (+651), while the largest decreases were in California (-10,968), New York (-2,811), Michigan (-1,117), Pennsylvania (-860), and Oregon (-740).
Source: dol.gov
