SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending April 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 346,000, a decrease of 42,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 388,000. The 4-week moving average was 358,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average of 355,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending March 30, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 30 was 3,079,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,091,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,079,250, an increase of 5,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,074,000.
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 353,973 in the week ending April 6, an increase of 37,025 from the previous week. There were 390,064 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent during the week ending March 30, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,266,392, a decrease of 84,488 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,350,880. A year earlier, the rate was 2.7 percent and the volume was 3,470,104.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending March 23 was 5,277,512, a decrease of 10,573 from the previous week. There were 6,952,894 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012.
Extended Benefits were available only in Alaska during the week ending March 23.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,139 in the week ending March 30, an increase of 30 from the prior week. There were 2,143 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 192 from the preceding week.
There were 19,791 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 23, a decrease of 452 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 38,090, a decrease of 587 from the prior week.
States reported 1,837,554 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending March 23, an increase of 37,929 from the prior week. There were 2,794,553 persons claiming EUC in the comparable week in 2012. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 23 were in Alaska (5.5), Puerto Rico (4.3), California (3.8), New Jersey (3.8), Rhode Island (3.8), Connecticut (3.7), Pennsylvania (3.7), Wisconsin (3.6), Massachusetts (3.5), and Montana (3.5).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 30 were in Pennsylvania (+3,015), New Jersey (+2,409), Illinois (+2,149), Kentucky (+1,718), and Wisconsin (+1,583), while the largest decreases were in Texas (-3,489), California (-2,661), North Carolina (-1,601), Arkansas (-1,221), and Connecticut (-774).
