Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—May 14, 2015
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending May 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 264,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 265,000. The 4-week moving average was 271,750, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 279,500. This is the lowest level for this average since April 22, 2000 when it was 266,750.
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 2, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 2 was 2,229,000, unchanged from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 1,000 from 2,228,000 to 2,229,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,260,250, a decrease of 11,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 2, 2000 when it was 2,241,000. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 2,271,500 to 2,271,750.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 242,640 in the week ending May 9, an increase of 6,219 (or 2.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 7,430 (or 3.1 percent) from the previous week. There were 270,738 initial claims in the comparable week in 2014.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent during the week ending May 2, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,144,165, a decrease of 55,592 (or -2.5 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 55,718 (or -2.5 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.9 percent and the volume was 2,559,236.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 25 was 2,254,647, a decrease of 79,635 from the previous week. There were 2,705,019 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 April 25.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 839 in the week ending May 2, an increase of 12 from the prior week. There were 1,339 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 72 from the preceding week.
There were 11,387 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 25, a decrease of 859 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 19,481, a decrease of 1,157 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 25 were in Alaska (3.6), Puerto Rico 2.8), New Jersey (2.7), Rhode Island (2.6), California (2.5), Connecticut (2.5), the Virgin Islands (2.4), Massachusetts (2.3), Pennsylvania (2.3), Nevada (2.2), West Virginia (2.2), and Illinois (2.1).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 2 were in New York (+810), Oregon +633), New Hampshire (+515), Pennsylvania (+333), and Virginia (+311), while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts (-4,191), Rhode Island (-2,281), Georgia (-1,801), California (-1,753), and Connecticut (-1,114).
Source: dol.gov
