Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—December 24, 2015
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending December 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 267,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 271,000 to 272,000. The 4-week moving average was 272,500, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 270,500 to 270,750.
There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent for the week ending December 12, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 12 was 2,195,000, a decrease of 47,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 4,000 from 2,238,000 to 2,242,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,211,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 2,199,750 to 2,201,000.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 319,852 in the week ending December 19, an increase of 6,576 (or 2.1 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 12,227 (or 3.9 percent) from the previous week. There were 340,827 initial claims in the comparable week in 2014.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent during the week ending December 12, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,287,070, an increase of 80,548 (or 3.7 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 130,059 (or 5.9 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.9 percent and the volume was 2,478,752.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 5 was 2,256,207, a decrease of 97,585 from the previous week. There were 2,413,615 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2014.
No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending December 5.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,181 in the week ending December 12, a decrease of 533 from the prior week. There were 1,251 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 156 from the preceding week.
There were 13,746 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending December 5, a decrease of 2,361 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 16,703, a decrease of 1,172 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 5 were in Alaska (4.2), Puerto Rico (3.0), West Virginia (2.8), Montana (2.6), New Jersey (2.6), Pennsylvania (2.6), California (2.4), Connecticut (2.3), Illinois (2.2), and Nevada (2.2).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 12 were in Michigan (+905), Rhode Island (+199), Ohio (+196), Arizona (+78), and Louisiana (+29), while the largest decreases were in New York (-10,297), Pennsylvania (-9,554), Wisconsin (-6,195), Georgia (-5,772), and Texas (-4,535).
Source: www.dol.gov
