Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—May 28, 2015
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending May 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 282,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 274,000 to 275,000. The 4-week moving average was 271,500, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 266,250 to 266,500.
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 May 16, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 16 was 2,222,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 2,211,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,221,250, a decrease of 8,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 2,229,750. This is the lowest level for this average since November 25, 2000 when it was 2,211,250.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 251,435 in the week ending May 23, an increase of 7,950 (or 3.3 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 1,924 (or 0.8 percent) from the previous week. There were 275,412 initial claims in the comparable week in 2014.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent during the week ending May 16, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,075,317, a decrease of 3,047 (or -0.1 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 13,266 (or -0.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.9 percent and the volume was 2,455,022.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending May 9 was 2,126,837, a decrease of 68,872 from the previous week. There were 2,553,581 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 May 9.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 849 in the week ending May 16, an increase of 82 from the prior week. There were 1,293 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 77 from the preceding week.
There were 10,208 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 9, a decrease of 1,201 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 19,030, a decrease of 711 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 9 were in Alaska (3.3), Puerto Rico (2.8), the Virgin Islands (2.6), New Jersey (2.5), California (2.4), Connecticut (2.3), Nevada (2.2), Pennsylvania (2.2), West Virginia (2.1), Illinois (2.0), Massachusetts (2.0), and Wyoming (2.0).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 16 were in Missouri (+1,382), Oregon (+1,002), New York (+965), Kentucky (+604), and Pennsylvania (+575), while the largest decreases were in California (-2,530), South Carolina (-705), Illinois (-648), Colorado (-439), and Georgia (-431).
Source: dol.gov
