Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–Janury 5, 2011.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending December 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 372,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 387,000. The 4-week moving average was 373,250, a decrease of 3,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 376,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.8 percent for the week ending December 24, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 24, was 3,595,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,617,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,601,750, a decrease of 1,000 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,602,750.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 535,112 in the week ending December 31, an increase of 37,423 from the previous week. There were 578,904 initial claims in the comparable week in 2010.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.0 percent during the week ending December 24, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,764,364, an increase of 150,906 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.5 percent and the volume was 4,415,512.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 17 was 7,223,203, a decrease of 8,311 from the previous week.
Extended benefits were available in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin during the week ending December 17.
Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,092 in the week ending December 24, an increase of 215 from the prior week. There were 2,332 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 1,565 from the preceding week.
There were 30,777 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending December 17, an increase of 273 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 42,352, a decrease of 883 from the prior week.
States reported 2,932,561 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending December 17, an increase of 6,426 from the prior week. There were 3,577,663 claimants in the comparable week in 2010. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 17 were in Alaska (6.5), Puerto Rico (4.3), Oregon (4.2), Pennsylvania (4.0), Idaho (3.8), Montana (3.8), California (3.7), Nevada (3.7), Wisconsin (3.7), Illinois (3.6), New Jersey (3.6), and Rhode Island (3.6).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 24 were in California (+16,490), Pennsylvania (+6,764), Michigan (+5,632), Kentucky (+5,263), and Indiana (+5,084) while the largest decreases were in Georgia (-1,105), Texas (-876), Louisiana (-696), South Carolina (-685), and Puerto Rico (-676).
Source: dol.gov
