Initial U.S. jobless claims increased by 12,000 last week

RP news wires

In the week ending June 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 472,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 460,000, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on June 17. The four-week moving average was 463,500, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average of 464,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending June 5, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.5 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 5 was 4,571,000, an increase of 88,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,483,000. The four-week moving average was 4,601,500, a decrease of 21,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,622,750.

The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.097 million.

Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 440,701 in the week ending June 12, an increase of 44,112 from the previous week. There were 558,407 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.3 percent during the week ending June 5, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 4,287,298, an increase of 90,879 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.5 percent and the volume was 6,082,296.

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, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin during the week ending May 29.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 1,592 in the week ending June 5, a decrease of 374 from the prior week. There were 2,147 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 258 from the preceding week.

There were 16,793 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending May 29, a decrease of 422 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 35,906, a decrease of 1,306 from the prior week.

States reported 4,804,030 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending May 29, a decrease of 191,103 from the prior week. There were 2,359,537 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 May 29 were in Puerto Rico (6.2 percent), Alaska (5.5), Oregon (5.2), Nevada (4.6), Pennsylvania (4.4), North Carolina (4.2), Wisconsin (4.1), California (4.0), Connecticut (4.0) and New Jersey (3.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 5 were in Wisconsin (+2,683), Ohio (+1,672), Illinois (+1,571), New Mexico (+950) and Alabama (+829), while the largest decreases were in California (-10,386), Florida (-2,475), New York (-2,201), Iowa (-1,915) and North Carolina (-1,519). 

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