Initial U.S. unemployment claims fell by 3,000 last week

RP news wires

In the week ending December 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 420,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 423,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on December 16. The four-week moving average was 422,750, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 428,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.3 percent for the week ending December 4, unchanged from the prior week's revised rate of 3.3 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 4 was 4,135,000, an increase of 22,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,113,000. The four-week moving average was 4,185,500, a decrease of 47,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,232,750.

Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 486,284 in the week ending December 11, a decrease of 99,225 from the previous week. There were 555,383 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.2 percent during the week ending December 4, 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 4,031,909, a decrease of 183,602 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.9 percent and the volume was 5,192,075.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending November 27 was 9,191,897.

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 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 November 27.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 2,968 in the week ending December 4, an increase of 523 from the prior week. There were 2,876 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 1,302 from the preceding week.

There were 50,941 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending November 27, an increase of 7,139 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 43,927, an increase of 4,084 from the prior week.

States reported 3,854,067 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending November 27, an increase of 142,931 from the prior week. There were 4,218,262 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 November 27 were in Alaska (6.9 percent), Oregon (5.4), Puerto Rico (5.0), Montana (4.6), Wisconsin (4.6), Idaho (4.5), Nevada (4.4), Pennsylvania (4.4), California (4.3) and New Jersey (4.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 4 were in New York (+16,863), North Carolina (+15,276), Pennsylvania (+15,174), Georgia (+15,019) and California (+13,585), while the largest decreases were in Iowa (-2,146), Idaho (-1,169), Puerto Rico (-609), Vermont (-418) and Montana (-191).

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