Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—May 29, 2014.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending May 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 300,000, a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 326,000 to 327,000. The 4-week moving average was 311,500, a decrease of 11,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since August 11, 2007 when it was 311,250. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 322,500 to 322,750.
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 17, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 17 was 2,631,000, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since November 17, 2007 when it was 2,609,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 5,000 from 2,653,000 to 2,648,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,655,250, a decrease of 32,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 8, 2007 when it was 2,638,500. The previous week’s average was revised down by 1,250 from 2,689,000 to 2,687,750.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 271,865 in the week ending May 24, a decrease of 15,533 (or -5.4 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 8,818 (or +3.1 percent) from the previous week. There were 319,508 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent during the week ending May 17, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,462,528, a decrease of 31,967 (or -1.3 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 15,889 (or -0.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was 2,799,681.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending May 10 was 2,553,581, a decrease of 66,969 from the previous week. There were 4,571,189 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 May 10.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,042 in the week ending May 17, an increase of 122 from the prior week. There were 1,639 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 78 from the preceding week. There were 12,491 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 10, a decrease of 1,268 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 25,128, an increase of 2 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 10 were in Alaska (4.3), Puerto Rico 3.3), California (3.0), New Jersey (3.0), Connecticut (2.8), Pennsylvania (2.8), Nevada (2.6), Illinois (2.5), Massachusetts (2.3), Oregon (2.3), Rhode Island (2.3), and Virgin Island (2.3). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 17 were in Michigan (+5,809), California (+4,477), Kansas (+2,492), Missouri (+2,034), and Pennsylvania (+1,181), while the largest decreases were in Wisconsin (-1,870), New York (-1,348), Minnesota (-1,001), Florida (-664), and Tennessee (-620).
Source: dol.gov
