Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—April 24, 2014.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending April 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 329,000, an increase of 24,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 304,000 to 305,000. The 4-week moving average was 316,750, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 312,000.
There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending April 12, a decrease of 0.1 percent from the previous week’s unrevised rate of 2.1 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 12 was 2,680,000, a decrease of 61,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since December 8, 2007 when it was 2,672,000. The previous week’s level was revised up 2,000 from 2,739,000 to 2,741,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,752,250, a decrease of 33,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 29, 2007 when it was 2,730,250. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 2,785,250 to 2,785,750.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 297,870 in the week ending April 19, a decrease of 20,923 (or -6.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 42,668 (or -13.4 percent) from the previous week. There were 326,264 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent during the week ending April 12, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,763,333, a decrease of 89,938 (or -3.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 27,409 (or -1.0 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.4 percent and the volume was 3,096,325.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 5 was 2,922,187, a decrease of 85,245 from the previous week. There were 5,065,908 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 April 5.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,238 in the week ending April 12, an increase of 239 from the prior week. There were 1,676 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 141 from the preceding week. There were 16,020 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 5, a decrease of 563 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 26,067, a decrease of 317 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 5 were in Alaska (4.9), New Jersey (3.6), Connecticut (3.3), Illinois (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.2), Puerto Rico (3.2), California (3.1), Rhode Island (3.1), Massachusetts (3.0), Maine (2.8), Nevada (2.8), and Wisconsin (2.8).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 12 were in California (+9,213), Michigan (+2,900), Pennsylvania (+2,618), Texas (+1,792), and Indiana (+1,723), while the largest decreases were in Oregon (-2,244), Georgia (-1,602), Ohio (-1,007), Massachusetts (-615), and Illinois (-571).
Source: dol.gov
