National

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report for Week Ending Jan. 24, 2015


Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—January 29, 2015.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending January 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 265,000, a decrease of 43,000 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 307,000 to 308,000. The 4-week moving average was 298,500, a decrease of 8,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 306,500 to 306,750. 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 January 17, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 17 was 2,385,000, a decrease of 71,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 13,000 from 2,443,000 to 2,456,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,438,500, an increase of 8,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 3,250 from 2,427,000 to 2,430,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 280,237 in the week ending January 24, a decrease of 102,358 (or -26.8 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 57,297 (or -15.0 percent) from the previous week. There were 357,806 initial claims in the comparable week in 2014.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent during the week ending January 17, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,773,546, a decrease of 128,910 (or -4.4 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 46,655 (or -1.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.6 percent and the volume was 3,373,217.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending January 10 was 2,961,887, a decrease of 87,774 from the previous week. There were 3,565,172 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 January 10.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,663 in the week ending January 17, a decrease of 306 from the prior week. There were 1,779 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 255 from the preceding week. There were 18,028 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending January 10, an increase of 372 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 25,618, an increase of 1,154 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending January 10 were in Alaska (4.9), New Jersey (3.7), Connecticut (3.5), Puerto Rico (3.4), Montana (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.3), Massachusetts (3.2), Rhode Island (3.2), Wisconsin (3.2), California (3.0), Illinois (3.0), and West Virginia (3.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 17 were in Puerto Rico (+792) and the Virgin Islands (+25), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-13,194), New York (-12,255), Georgia (-10,173), Missouri (-7,082), and Wisconsin (-6,963).

Source: dol.gov


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