Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—December 18, 2014.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending December 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 289,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 294,000 to 295,000. The 4-week moving average was 298,750, a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 299,250 to 299,500.
There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent for the week ending December 6, 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 December 6 was 2,373,000, a decrease of 147,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 6,000 from 2,514,000 to 2,520,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,397,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,500 from 2,385,500 to 2,387,000.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 326,930 in the week ending December 13, a decrease of 61,841 (or -15.9 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 55,076 (or -14.2 percent) from the previous week. There were 414,613 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent during the week ending December 6, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,349,128, a decrease of 166,134 (or -6.6 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 20,162 (or -0.8 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was 2,880,807. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending November 29 was 2,576,605, an increase of 422,949 from the previous week. There were 4,423,024 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 November 29.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,878 in the week ending December 6, an increase of 776 from the prior week. There were 2,018 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 911 from the preceding week.
There were 18,571 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending November 29, an increase of 2,909 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 26,633, an increase of 3,067 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 29 were in Alaska (4.7), Puerto Rico (3.4), New Jersey (3.2), California (2.9), the Virgin Islands (2.9), Montana (2.8), Connecticut (2.7), Nevada (2.7), Pennsylvania (2.7), and West Virginia (2.5).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 6 were in Pennsylvania (+12,302), Texas (+9,107), Georgia (+8,214), California (+6,051), and New York (+5,972), while the largest decreases were in Nebraska (-429), Vermont (-353), Arkansas (-216), Kentucky (-134), and North Dakota (-13).
Source: dol.gov
