In the week ending May 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 444,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 451,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on May 6. The four-week moving average was 458,500, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average of 463,250.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending April 24, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 24 was 4,594,000, a decrease of 59,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,653,000. The four-week moving average was 4,649,000, an increase of 8,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,641,000.
The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.183 million.
Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 392,629 in the week ending May 1, a decrease of 33,783 from the previous week. There were 536,648 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent during the week ending April 24, 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 4,635,631, a decrease of 152,657 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.7 percent and the volume was 6,280,863.
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 17.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 1,214 in the week ending April 24, a decrease of 5 from the prior week. There were 2,386 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 57 from the preceding week.
There were 19,211 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending April 17, a decrease of 990 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 37,199, an increase of 134 from the prior week.
States reported 5,354,259 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 17, an increase of 153,786 from the prior week. There were 2,279,478 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 17 were in Alaska (6.6 percent), Puerto Rico (6.0), Oregon (5.8), Nevada (5.1), Wisconsin (5.1), California (5.0), Michigan (4.9), Montana (4.9), Pennsylvania (4.9), Idaho (4.7) and North Carolina (4.7).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 24 were in California (+6,418), Massachusetts (+4,526), Oregon (+3,117), Kentucky (+1,800) and Louisiana (+993), while the largest decreases were in Florida (-2,766), North Carolina (-2,650), New York (-2,601), Wisconsin (-2,522) and Georgia (-2,197).
