In the week ending April 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 456,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 480,000, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on April 22. The four-week moving average was 460,250, an increase of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of 457,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending April 10, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 3.7 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 10 was 4,646,000, a decrease of 40,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,686,000. The four-week moving average was 4,643,750, a decrease of 5,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,649,250.
The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.202 million.
Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 431,740 in the week ending April 17, a decrease of 79,187 from the previous week. There were 596,564 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.8 percent during the week ending April 10, 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 4,906,633, a decrease of 75,054 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.8 percent and the volume was 6,406,046.
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 April 3.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 1,443 in the week ending April 10, an increase of 200 from the prior week. There were 2,418 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 691 from the preceding week.
There were 20,084 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending April 3, a decrease of 936 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,596, an increase of 1,802 from the prior week.
States reported 5,347,114 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 3, a decrease of 508,187 from the prior week. There were 2,364,774 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 April 3 were in Alaska (6.6 percent), Oregon (6.1), Wisconsin (5.5), Nevada (5.4), Puerto Rico (5.4), Idaho (5.3), Michigan (5.2), Montana (5.2), Pennsylvania (5.1) and North Carolina (5.0).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 10 were in New York (+23,876), California (+23,785), Florida (+7,304), Indiana (+5,603) and Texas (+4,576), while the largest decreases were in Kentucky (-2,147), Iowa (-1,447), New Jersey (-867), Nevada (-850) and Puerto Rico (-763).
