FROM: U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending December 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 338,000, a decrease of 42,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 380,000. The 4-week moving average was 348,000, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 343,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent for the week ending December 14, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 14 was 2,923,000, an increase of 46,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,877,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,836,750, an increase of 39,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,797,250.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 413,920 in the week ending December 21, a decrease of 159 from the previous week. There were 457,578 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent during the week ending December 14, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,984,815, an increase of 113,284 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.5 percent and the volume was 3,254,315.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 7 was 4,279,284, a decrease of 132,858 from the previous week. There were 5,471,714 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012.
No state was triggered "on" the Extended Benefits program during the week ending December 7.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,869 in the week ending December 14, a decrease of 306 from the prior week. There were 2,004 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 352 from the preceding week.
There were 20,880 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending December 7, a decrease of 1,559 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 31,459, a decrease of 1,478 from the prior week.
States reported 1,333,332 persons claiming Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits for the week ending December 7, a decrease of 40,699 from the prior week. There were 2,096,243 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 December 14 were in Alaska (5.3), Puerto Rico (3.8), Pennsylvania (3.5), California (3.3), Connecticut (3.1), Montana (3.1), West Virginia (3.1), Illinois (2.8), Oregon (2.8), and Wisconsin (2.8).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 14 were in California (+4,622), Illinois (+3,686), Massachusetts (+2,331), Ohio (+1,529), and Indiana (+1,473), while the largest decreases were in New York (-12,706), Pennsylvania (-10,866), Georgia (-8,340), Texas (-4,904), and Wisconsin (-4,821).
