Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—May 15, 2014.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending May 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 297,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since May 12, 2007 when they were 297,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 319,000 to 321,000. The 4-week moving average was 323,250, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 324,750 to 325,250.
There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending May 3, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 3 was 2,667,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since December 1, 2007 when it was 2,639,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 9,000 from 2,685,000 to 2,676,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,694,500, a decrease of 18,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 15, 2007 when it was 2,670,500. The previous week’s average was revised down by 2,250 from 2,715,250 to 2,713,000.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 269,689 in the week ending May 10, a decrease of 19,059 (or -6.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 2,887 (or 1.0 percent) from the previous week. There were 320,253 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent during the week ending May 3, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,560,629, a decrease of 80,954 (or -3.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 72,262 (or -2.7 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was 2,883,832.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 26 was 2,705,019, a decrease of 127,674 from the previous week. There were 4,835,833 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2013.
No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending April 26. Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 989 in the week ending May 3, a decrease of 280 from the prior week. There were 1,733 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 179 from the preceding week.
There were 14,023 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 26, decrease of 664 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 25,296, a decrease of 708 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 26 were in Alaska (4.6), New Jersey 3.3), Puerto Rico (3.2), California (3.1), Connecticut (3.0), Rhode Island (3.0), Pennsylvania (2.9), Nevada (2.8), Illinois (2.7), and Massachusetts (2.7).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 3 were in Pennsylvania (+1,403), Texas (+1,147), Illinois (+646), Iowa (+540), and Maryland (+500), while the largest decreases were in New York (-20,637), California (-3,713), New Jersey (-2,565), Connecticut (-1,609), and Massachusetts (-1,277)
Source: dol.gov
