Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—February 5, 2015.
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending January 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 278,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 2,000 from 265,000 to 267,000. The 4-week moving average was 292,750, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 750 from 298,500 to 299,250. 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 24, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 24 was 2,400,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 9,000 from 2,385,000 to 2,394,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,421,250, a decrease of 21,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 4,000 from 2,438,500 to 2,442,500.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 305,712 in the week ending January 31, an increase of 23,827 (or 8.5 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 11,211 (or 4.0 percent) from the previous week. There were 357,742 initial claims in the comparable week in 2014.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent during the week ending January 24, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,820,082, an increase of 35,350 (or 1.3 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 28,733 (or 1.0 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.6 percent and the volume was 3,422,557.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending January 17 was 2,839,835, a decrease of 131,507 from the previous week. There were 3,443,454 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 17.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,189 in the week ending January 24, a decrease of 488 from the prior week. There were 1,521 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 261 from the preceding week.
There were 16,979 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending January 17, a decrease of 1,090 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 23,952, a decrease of 1,694 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending January 17 were in Alaska (4.7), New Jersey (3.6), Connecticut (3.4), Pennsylvania (3.4), Montana (3.3), Puerto Rico (3.3), Massachusetts (3.2), Illinois (3.1), Rhode Island (3.1), West Virginia (2.9), and Wisconsin (2.9).
There were no increases in initial claims for the week ending January 24. The largest decreases were in California (-21,586), New York (-6,919), Pennsylvania (-6,649), Michigan (-6,458), and Illinois (-5,751).
Source: dol.gov
