Initial U.S. jobless claims rose by 13,000 last week

In the week ending June 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 472,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 459,000, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on July 1. The four-week moving average was 466,500, an increase of 3,250 from the previous week's revised average of 463,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending June 19, unchanged from the prior week's revised rate of 3.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 19 was 4,616,000, an increase of 43,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,573,000. The four-week moving average was 4,567,500, a decrease of 25,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,592,750.

The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.077 million. 

Unadjusted data:The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 438,305 in the week ending June 26, an increase of 14,867 from the previous week. There were 559,857 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent during the week ending June 19, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 4,311,264, an increase of 3,471 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.5 percent and the volume was 6,078,254.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin during the week ending June 12.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 2,083 in the week ending June 19, a decrease of 64 from the prior week. There were 2,381 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 118 from the preceding week.

There were 18,082 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending June 12, an increase of 245 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 34,334, a decrease of 2,589 from the prior week.

States reported 4,515,499 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending June 12, a decrease of 217,513 from the prior week. There were 2,503,379 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 June 12 were in Puerto Rico (6.6 percent), Alaska (5.1), Oregon (4.9), California (4.4), Nevada (4.4), Pennsylvania (4.4), Wisconsin (4.1), Connecticut (4.0), North Carolina (4.0), New Jersey (3.9) and South Carolina (3.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 19 were in Pennsylvania (+3,460), New Jersey (+1,708), Iowa (+1,494), Maryland (+1,404) and Michigan (+1,251), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-3,711), California (-3,629), New York (-3,566), Georgia (-1,921) and South Carolina (-1,565).