Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—December 31, 2014.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending December 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 298,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 280,000 to 281,000. The 4-week moving average was 290,750, an increase of 250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 290,250 to 290,500.
There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent for the week ending December 20, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 20 was 2,353,000, a decrease of 53,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 3,000 from 2,403,000 to 2,406,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,414,250, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 750 from 2,418,250 to 2,419,000.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 390,087 in the week ending December 27, an increase of 49,271 (or 14.5 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 26,411 (or 7.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 452,664 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent during the week ending December 20, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,352,984, a decrease of 125,321 (or -5.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 72,184 (or -2.9 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was 2,854,624.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 13 was 2,540,575, an increase of 126,960 from the previous week. There were 4,470,098 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 December 13.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,558 in the week ending December 20, an increase of 227 from the prior week. There were 1,716 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 36 from the preceding week.
There were 18,684 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending December 13, an increase of 1,856 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 26,027, an increase of 905 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 13 were in Alaska (4.9), New Jersey (3.1), Puerto Rico (3.1), Pennsylvania (2.9), California (2.8), Connecticut (2.7), Montana (2.7), the Virgin Islands (2.7), Nevada (2.6), and Illinois (2.5).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 20 were in Kentucky (+4,151), Ohio (+3,991), Michigan (+2,093), Missouri (+1,739), and Iowa (+1,569), while the largest decreases were in California (-16,139), South Carolina (-1,110), Florida (-985), West Virginia (-604), and Maine (-296).
Source: dol.gov
