Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–April 14, 2016
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending April 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 253,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 1,000 from 267,000 to 266,000. The 4-week moving average was 265,000, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 250 from 266,750 to 266,500.
There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims. This marks 58 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent for the week ending April 2, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 2 was 2,171,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 2,000 from 2,191,000 to 2,189,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,178,000, a decrease of 10,250 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since November 18, 2000 when it was 2,169,000. The previous week’s average was revised down by 500 from 2,188,750 to 2,188,250.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 270,563 in the week ending April 9, an increase of 25,528 (or 10.4 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 39,685 (or 16.2 percent) from the previous week. There were 308,173 initial claims in the comparable week in 2015.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent during the week ending April 2, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,274,709, a decrease of 100,809 (or -4.2 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 81,008 (or -3.4 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.8 percent and the volume was 2,381,913.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending March 26 was 2,420,036, a decrease of 34,920 from the previous week. There were 2,527,259 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 March 26.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 618 in the week ending April 2, an increase of 5 from the prior week. There were 1,042 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 43 from the preceding week.
There were 10,823 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 26, a decrease of 952 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 14,290, an increase of 5 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 26 were in Alaska (4.2), Wyoming (3.0), New Jersey (2.9), Puerto Rico (2.8), Connecticut (2.7), Pennsylvania (2.7), West Virginia (2.7), California (2.6), Montana (2.6), and Illinois (2.5).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 2 were in New York (+4,521), New Jersey (+3,836), Puerto Rico (+1,964), Virginia (+1,213), and Georgia (+981), while the largest decreases were in California (-7,118), Arkansas (-1,249), Texas (-934), Missouri (-705), and Iowa (-416).
Source: http://www.dol.gov
