Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–March 3, 2016
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending February 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 278,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 272,000. The 4-week moving average was 270,250, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 272,000.
There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent for the week ending February 20, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 20 was 2,257,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 1,000 from 2,253,000 to 2,254,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,256,500, a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 2,257,000 to 2,257,250.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 266,423 in the week ending February 27, an increase of 17,553 (or 7.1 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 12,253 (or 4.9 percent) from the previous week. There were 315,566 initial claims in the comparable week in 2015.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent during the week ending February 20, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,669,968, an increase of 57,541 (or 2.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 54,097 (or 2.1 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.1 percent and the volume was 2,835,368.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending February 13 was 2,659,413, a decrease of 48,512 from the previous week. There were 2,806,820 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 13.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 622 in the week ending February 20, a decrease of 150 from the prior week. There were 873 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 143 from the preceding week.
There were 13,127 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending February 13, a decrease of 1,407 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 15,066, a decrease of 611 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 13 were in Alaska (4.7), West Virginia (3.5), New Jersey (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.3), Montana (3.2), Wyoming (3.2), Connecticut (3.0), Rhode Island (3.0), Illinois (2.8), and Massachusetts (2.8).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 20 were in Massachusetts (+3,268), Missouri (+1,012), Connecticut (+787), Rhode Island (+744), and Tennessee (+724), while the largest decreases were in California (-5,515), New York (-1,282), Oregon (-1,036), Virginia (-1,006), and Michigan (-990).
Source: http://www.dol.gov
