Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—March 19, 2015
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending March 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 291,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 289,000 to 290,000. The 4-week moving average was 304,750, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 302,250 to 302,500.
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 March 7, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 7 was 2,417,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 10,000 from 2,418,000 to 2,428,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,418,000, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 2,500 from 2,416,750 to 2,419,250.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 259,671 in the week ending March 14, a decrease of 18,254 (or -6.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 19,127 (or -6.9 percent) from the previous week. There were 285,970 initial claims in the comparable week in 2014.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent during the week ending March 7, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,724,216, a decrease of 80,359 (or -2.9 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 67,990 (or -2.4 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.5 percent and the volume was 3,233,107. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending February 28 was 2,859,145, a decrease of 32,496 from the previous week. There were 3,350,028 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2014.
No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending February 28.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 895 in the week ending March 7, an increase of 2 from the prior week. There were 1,593 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 263 from the preceding week.
There were 15,398 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending February 28, a decrease of 1,189 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 22,164, a decrease of 865 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 28 were in Alaska (4.3), New Jersey (3.7), Pennsylvania (3.5), Connecticut (3.4), Rhode Island (3.4), Massachusetts (3.1), Montana (3.1), West Virginia (3.1), Illinois (3.0), Puerto Rico (3.0), California (2.9), and Wisconsin (2.9).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 7 were in Texas (+1,939), Florida (+1,593), Oregon (+748), North Carolina (+704), and Washington (+530), while the largest decreases were in New York (-19,138), Tennessee (-4,069), Missouri (-2,793), Ohio (-2,575), and California (-1,825).
Source: dol.gov
