In the week ending August 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 472,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 478,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on September 2. The four-week moving average was 485,500, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 488,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending August 21, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.5 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 21 was 4,456,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,479,000. The four-week moving average was 4,485,250, a decrease of 28,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,513,750.
The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 4.994 million.
Unadjusted data:The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 378,511 in the week ending August 28, a decrease of 6,400 from the previous week. There were 456,682 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.2 percent during the week ending August 21, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 4,103,789, a decrease of 115,895 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.2 percent and the volume was 5,622,401.
Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin during the week ending August 14.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 3,932 in the week ending August 21, an increase of 180 from the prior week. There were 2,719 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 38 from the preceding week.
There were 24,792 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending August 14, an increase of 751 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 41,153, an increase of 713 from the prior week.
States reported 4,546,010 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending August 14, a decrease of 281,676 from the prior week. There were 3,081,750 claimants in the comparable week in 2009. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third and fourth-tier activity.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 14 were in Puerto Rico (6.9 percent), Pennsylvania (4.8), New Jersey (4.6), Oregon (4.5), Alaska (4.4), California (4.3), Connecticut (4.3), Nevada (4.1), Rhode Island (4.1) and Wisconsin (4.0).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 21 were in Florida (+1,906), Nevada (+503), Iowa (+297), Maryland (+250) and New York (+247), while the largest decreases were in California (-5,983), Ohio (-1,649), Michigan (-1,559), Wisconsin (-1,406) and Oregon (-1,356).