National

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report for Week Ending April 25, 2015


Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—April 30, 2015

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending April 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 262,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since April 15, 2000 when it was 259,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 295,000 to 296,000. The 4-week moving average was 283,750, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 284,500 to 285,000.

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 April 18, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 18 was 2,253,000, a decrease of 74,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since December 2, 2000 when it was 2,229,000. The previous week’s level was revised up 2,000 from 2,325,000 to 2,327,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,290,750, a decrease of 18,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 23, 2000 when it was 2,288,500. The previous week’s average was revised up by 500 from 2,308,750 to 2,309,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 250,815 in the week ending April 25, a decrease of 28,982 (or -10.4 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 3,253 (or 1.2 percent) from the previous week. There were 318,127 initial claims in the comparable week in 2014. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent during the week ending April 18, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,278,090, a decrease of 111,815 (or -4.7 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 37,233 (or -1.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.1 percent and the volume was 2,766,506.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 11 was 2,440,229, an increase of 6,021 from the previous week. There were 2,822,340 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2014.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending April 11.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 794 in the week ending April 18, a decrease of 160 from the prior week. There were 1,326 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 72 from the preceding week. There were 12,361 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 11, a decrease of 613 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 20,567, a decrease of 183 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 11 were in Alaska (3.6), New Jersey (3.1), Connecticut (2.8), Puerto Rico (2.8), California (2.6), Pennsylvania (2.6), the Virgin Islands (2.6), Massachusetts (2.5), Rhode Island (2.5), and Illinois (2.4).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 18 were in New York (+8,902), Connecticut (+1,831), California (+1,343), Michigan (+387), and Vermont (+212), while the largest decreases were in New Jersey (-5,997), Pennsylvania (-5,566), Kentucky (-3,338), Texas (-2,163), and Kansas (-2,030).

Source: dol.gov


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