In the week ending March 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 439,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 445,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on April 1. The four-week moving average was 447,250, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week's revised average of 454,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending March 20, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 20 was 4,662,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,668,000. The four-week moving average was 4,679,500, a decrease of 12,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,692,000.
The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.259 million. The increase in this number is attributable to the implementation of new seasonal factors.
Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 404,869 in the week ending March 27, a decrease of 3,784 from the previous week. There were 599,299 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.0 percent during the week ending March 20, 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 5,174,470, a decrease of 170,152 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.8 percent and the volume was 6,388,414.
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, Missouri, 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 March 13.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 1,263 in the week ending March 20, an increase of 42 from the prior week. There were 2,181 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 90 from the preceding week.
There were 22,801 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending March 13, an increase of 564 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,171, a decrease of 195 from the prior week.
States reported 5,894,337 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending March 13, an increase of 267,012 from the prior week. There were 2,172,852 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 March 13 were in Alaska (7.2 percent), Puerto Rico (6.4), Oregon (6.1), Pennsylvania (6.0), Wisconsin (5.9), Idaho (5.8), Montana (5.8), Michigan (5.5), Nevada (5.5) and Rhode Island (5.3).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 20 were in Illinois (+1,396), Oklahoma (+1,152), Missouri (+792), South Carolina (+395) and New Mexico (+303), while the largest decreases were in California (-5,180), Pennsylvania (-3,677), North Carolina (-2,733), New Jersey (-2,521) and Michigan (-1,644).
