Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—August 27, 2015.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending August 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 271,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 277,000. The 4-week moving average was 272,500, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 271,500.
There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent for the week ending August 15, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 15 was 2,269,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 2,000 from 2,254,000 to 2,256,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,265,250, a decrease of 250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 2,265,000 to 2,265,500.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 226,855 in the week ending August 22, a decrease of 2,396 (or -1.0 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 2,769 (or 1.2 percent) from the previous week. There were 249,006 initial claims in the comparable week in 2014. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent during the week ending August 15, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,166,978, an increase of 5,790 (or 0.3 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 6,768 (or -0.3 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.8 percent and the volume was 2,403,823.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending August 8 was 2,207,153, a decrease of 47,632 from the previous week. There were 2,466,793 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 August 8.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 861 in the week ending August 15, an increase of 40 from the prior week. There were 1,395 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 173 from the preceding week.
There were 10,554 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending August 8, a decrease of 98 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 18,191, an increase of 229 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 8 were in Puerto Rico (3.8), New Jersey (2.9), Connecticut (2.7), Pennsylvania (2.5), Alaska (2.3), California (2.3), Nevada (2.2), Rhode Island (2.2), the Virgin Islands (2.2), and West Virginia (2.2).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 15 were in Michigan (+1,297), Kansas (+1,244), Missouri (+356), Idaho (+157), and Louisiana (+99), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-1,486), Pennsylvania (-1,166), Texas (-1,071), Ohio (-1,001), and Florida (-946).
Source: www.dol.gov
