Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—August 21, 2014.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending August 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 298,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 311,000 to 312,000. The 4-week moving average was 300,750, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 295,750 to 296,000. There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 per cent for the week ending August 9, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 9 was 2,500,000, a decrease of 49,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since June 16, 2007 when it was 2,453,000. The previous week’s level was revised up 5,000 from 2,544,000 to 2,549,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,527,500, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 2,528,250 to 2,529,500.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 248,759 in the week ending August 16, a decrease of 20,709 (or -7.7 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 9,357 (or -3.5 percent) from the previous week. There were 281,164 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent during the week ending August 9, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,409,779, a decrease of 52,377 (or -2.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 5,098 (or -0.2 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was 2,873,345. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending August 2 was 2,517,465, a decrease of 18,965 from the previous week. There were 4,431,604 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 August 2.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,048 in the week ending August 9, a decrease of 11 from the prior week. There were 2,225 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 399 from the preceding week.
There were 14,643 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending August 2, a decrease of 669 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 23,805, a decrease of 647 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 2 were in Puerto Rico (4.3), New Jersey (3.3), Alaska (3.1), Connecticut (3.1), Pennsylvania (2.9), California (2.8), Rhode Island (2.6), Massachusetts (2.5), Nevada (2.5), and the Virgin Islands (2.3).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 9 were in California (+10,107), New York (+1,928), Massachusetts (+1,451), Michigan (+1,423), and Florida (+1,236), while the largest decreases were in Connecticut (-397), Kansas (-305), South Carolina (-225), Arkansas (-206), and Hawaii (-188).
Source: dol.gov
