In the week ending April 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 460,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 442,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on April 8. The four-week moving average was 450,250, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 448,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending March 27, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 27 was 4,550,000, a decrease of 131,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,681,000. The four-week moving average was 4,648,250, a decrease of 36,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,684,250.
The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.236 million.
Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 414,657 in the week ending April 3, an increase of 6,492 from the previous week. There were 623,279 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.9 percent during the week ending March 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 5,027,944, a decrease of 168,431 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.8 percent and the volume was 6,451,690.
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 20.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 1,187 in the week ending March 27, a decrease of 76 from the prior week. There were 2,311 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 106 from the preceding week.
There were 21,025 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending March 20, a decrease of 1,776 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,877, an increase of 706 from the prior week.
States reported 5,593,484 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending March 20, a decrease of 300,853 from the prior week. There were 2,251,784 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 20 were in Alaska (7.1 percent), Puerto Rico (6.1), Oregon (6.0), Wisconsin (5.7), Montana (5.6), Idaho (5.5), Michigan (5.4), Pennsylvania (5.4), Nevada (5.3) and Rhode Island (5.2).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 27 were in Texas (+3,640), Oregon (+2,412), New Jersey (+1,715), California (+1,275) and Kentucky (+926), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-2,240), Illinois (-1,872), Oklahoma (-1,270), Missouri (-1,079) and North Carolina (-673).
