In the week ending February 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 469,000, a decrease of 29,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 498,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on March 4. The four-week moving average was 470,750, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 474,250.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending February 20, 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 February 20 was 4,500,000, a decrease of 134,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,634,000. The four-week moving average was 4,575,750, a decrease of 29,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,605,000.
The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.186 million.
Unadjusted data:The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 471,720 in the week ending February 27, an increase of 17,128 from the previous week. There were 645,827 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.3 percent during the week ending February 20, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 5,571,085, an increase of 24,534 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.7 percent and the volume was 6,231,080.
Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, 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 February 13.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 1,196 in the week ending February 20, unchanged from the prior week. There were 1,946 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 244 from the preceding week.
There were 23,773 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending February 13, a decrease of 322 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 35,473, a decrease of 956 from the prior week.
States reported 5,687,574 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending February 13, an increase of 207,632 from the prior week. There were 1,929,723 claimants in the comparable week in 2009. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third- and fourth-tier activity.
