Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—June 5, 2014.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending May 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 312,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 4,000 from 300,000 to 304,000. The 4-week moving average was 310,250, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since June 2, 2007 when it was 307,500. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,000 from 311,500 to 312,500.
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 24, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 24 was 2,603,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since October 27, 2007 when it was 2,587,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 8,000 from 2,631,000 to 2,623,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,635,000, a decrease of 18,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 1, 2007 when it was 2,622,250. The previous week’s average was revised down by 2,000 from 2,655,250 to 2,653,250.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 262,931 in the week ending May 31, a decrease of 12,481 (or -4.5 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 19,130 (or -6.9 percent) from the previous week. There were 294,608 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent during the week ending May 24, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,394,992, a decrease of 60,020 (or -2.4 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 41,966 (or -1.7 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.1 percent and the volume was 2,734,582.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending May 17 was 2,513,302, a decrease of 40,279 from the previous week. There were 4,637,937 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 17.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,067 in the week ending May 24, an increase of 25 from the prior week. There were 1,448 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 191 from the preceding week. There were 12,306 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 17, a decrease of 185 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 24,704, a decrease of 424 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 17 were in Alaska (4.3), Puerto Rico (3.0), California (2.9), New Jersey (2.9), Connecticut (2.8), Pennsylvania (2.8), Nevada (2.6), Illinois (2.5), Massachusetts (2.3), Oregon (2.2), Rhode Island (2.2), and Maryland (2.1).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 24 were in New York (+1,347), Ohio +966), Wisconsin (+669), Louisiana (+642), and Tennessee (+580), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-6,683), Kansas (-2,093), Illinois (-1,407), Pennsylvania (-1,249), and California (-1,170).
Source: dol.gov
