In the week ending March 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 462,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 468,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on March 11. The four-week moving average was 475,500, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised average of 470,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending February 27, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.5 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 27 was 4,558,000, an increase of 37,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,521,000. The four-week moving average was 4,581,000, unchanged from the preceding week's revised average of 4,581,000.
The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.170 million.
Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 460,287 in the week ending March 6, a decrease of 10,969 from the previous week. There were 652,636 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.2 percent during the week ending February 27, 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 5,528,856, a decrease of 68,281 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.8 percent and the volume was 6,361,354.
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 20.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 1,290 in the week ending February 27, an increase of 93 from the prior week. There were 2,335 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 388 from the preceding week.
There were 22,955 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending February 20, a decrease of 822 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,585, an increase of 1,113 from the prior week.
States reported 5,527,925 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending February 20, a decrease of 159,649 from the prior week. There were 2,068,413 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 February 20 were in Alaska (7.4 percent), Oregon (6.4), Idaho (6.3), Pennsylvania (6.2), Wisconsin (6.2), Montana (6.1), Puerto Rico (6.0), Michigan (5.7), Nevada (5.6) and Rhode Island (5.6).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 27 were in California (+16,112), New York (+12,263), Florida (+2,516), Texas (+1,440) and Nevada (+947), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-4,772), Massachusetts (-4,504), New Jersey (-3,972), Kentucky (-3,633) and Missouri (-1,661).
