Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—April 28, 2016.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending April 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 257,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 247,000 to 248,000. The 4-week moving average was 256,000, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 8, 1973 when it was 252,250. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 260,500 to 260,750.
There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims. This marks 60 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 April 16, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 16 was 2,130,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since November 4, 2000 when it was 2,110,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 2,000 from 2,137,000 to 2,135,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,157,500, a decrease of 10,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since November 11, 2000 when it was 2,119,750. The previous week’s average was revised down by 500 from 2,168,500 to 2,168,000.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 245,189 in the week ending April 23, an increase of 2,789 (or 1.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 6,438 (or -2.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 250,780 initial claims in the comparable week in 2015. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent during the week ending April 16, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,155,507, a decrease of 56,464 (or -2.6 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 51,243 (or -2.3 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.7 percent and the volume was 2,281,070.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 9 was 2,255,678, a decrease of 69,811 from the previous week. There were 2,440,229 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 April 9.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 611 in the week ending April 16, a decrease of 133 from the prior week. There were 1,068 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 135 from the preceding week.
There were 9,489 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 9, a decrease of 1,142 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 13,765, an increase of 101 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 9 were in Alaska (4.0), Wyoming (3.0), New Jersey (2.7), West Virginia (2.7), Connecticut (2.5), Pennsylvania (2.5), Puerto Rico (2.5), California (2.4), Illinois (2.3), and Massachusetts (2.3).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 16 were in Massachusetts (+1,653), Connecticut (+1,105), California (+1,089), Puerto Rico (+476), and Utah (+25), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-4,270), Texas (-2,539), New York (-2,519), Illinois (-1,631), and Michigan (-1,577).
Source: http://www.dol.gov