In the week ending September 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 450,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 453,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on September 16. The four-week moving average was 464,750, a decrease of 13,500 from the previous week's revised average of 478,250.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending September 4, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 3.6 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 4 was 4,485,000, a decrease of 84,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,569,000. The four-week moving average was 4,503,000, a decrease of 7,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,510,500.
Unadjusted data:The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 339,838 in the week ending September 11, a decrease of 38,145 from the previous week. There were 411,126 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.1 percent during the week ending September 4, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 3,888,599, a decrease of 246,280 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.0 percent and the volume was 5,300,249.
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 August 28.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 4,912 in the week ending September 4, an increase of 192 from the prior week. There were 4,226 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 1,581 from the preceding week.
There were 36,028 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending August 28, an increase of 10,986 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 42,054, an increase of 1,253 from the prior week.
States reported 4,108,529 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending August 28, a decrease of 402,116 from the prior week. There were 3,178,368 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 28 were in Puerto Rico (7.3 percent), New Jersey (4.6), Pennsylvania (4.6), Alaska (4.4), Oregon (4.4), California (4.2), Connecticut (4.2), Nevada (4.2), Illinois (4.0) and Rhode Island (3.9).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 4 were in Pennsylvania (+1,442), Washington (+1,190), Texas (+809), Kansas (+698) and Kentucky (+581), while the largest decreases were in Florida (-5,619), New York (-2,907), Michigan (-2,864), Connecticut (-802) and Virginia (-709).