Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–March 10, 2016
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending March 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 259,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 1,000 from 278,000 to 277,000. The 4-week moving average was 267,500, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 250 from 270,250 to 270,000.
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 February 27, 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 February 27 was 2,225,000, a decrease of 32,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 2,257,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,252,000, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 2,256,500.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 247,991 in the week ending March 5, a decrease of 17,800 (or -6.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 277 (or -0.1 percent) from the previous week. There were 277,925 initial claims in the comparable week in 2015.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent during the week ending February 27, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,598,636, a decrease of 71,882 (or -2.7 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 33,861 (or -1.3 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.1 percent and the volume was 2,804,575.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending February 20 was 2,719,948, an increase of 60,535 from the previous week. There were 2,891,641 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2015.
No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending February 20.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 817 in the week ending February 27, an increase of 195 from the prior week. There were 998 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 125 from the preceding week.
There were 13,756 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending February 20, an increase of 629 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 15,332, an increase of 266 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 20 were in Alaska (4.6), West Virginia (3.5), New Jersey (3.4), Rhode Island (3.3), Montana (3.2), Connecticut (3.1), Pennsylvania (3.1), Wyoming (3.1), Massachusetts (3.0), California (2.8), and Illinois (2.8).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 27 were in New York (+17,920), California (+4,346), Texas (+959), Oregon (+930), and New Hampshire (+686), while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts (-3,413), Michigan (-1,054), Missouri (-983), Rhode Island (-838), and Pennsylvania (-609).
Source: http://www.dol.gov
