National

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report for Week Ending March 12, 2016


Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—March 17, 2016

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending March 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 265,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 1,000 from 259,000 to 258,000. The 4-week moving average was 268,000, an increase of 750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 250 from 267,500 to 267,250.

There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims. This marks 54 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent for the week ending March 5, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 5 was 2,235,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 2,000 from 2,225,000 to 2,227,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,243,250, a decrease of 9,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 2,252,000 to 2,252,500.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 237,168 in the week ending March 12, a decrease of 10,462 (or -4.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 16,285 (or -6.6 percent) from the previous week. There were 260,242 initial claims in the comparable week in 2015.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent during the week ending March 5, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,543,351, a decrease of 57,506 (or -2.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 66,803 (or -2.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.0 percent and the volume was 2,729,747.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending February 27 was 2,647,728, a decrease of 72,124 from the previous week. There were 2,859,145 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2015.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending February 27.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 741 in the week ending March 5, a decrease of 76 from the prior week. There were 1,052 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 54 from the preceding week.

There were 12,650 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending February 27, a decrease of 1,105 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 14,845, a decrease of 489 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 27 were in Alaska (4.5), New Jersey (3.3), West Virginia (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.2), Montana (3.1), Wyoming (3.1), Connecticut (3.0), Massachusetts (2.9), Rhode Island (2.9), Illinois (2.8), and Puerto Rico (2.8).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 5 were in Alabama (+732), Texas (+707), Illinois (+696), Michigan (+575), and Florida (+453), while the largest decreases were in New York (-17,555), California (-1,288), Massachusetts (-881), Connecticut (-844), and New Hampshire (-683).

Source: http://www.dol.gov


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