In the week ending September 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 465,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 453,000, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on September 23. The four-week moving average was 463,250, a decrease of 3,250 from the previous week's revised average of 466,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending September 11, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 3.6 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 11 was 4,489,000, a decrease of 48,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,537,000. The four-week moving average was 4,519,500, an increase of 2,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,517,000.
Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 379,369 in the week ending September 18, an increase of 37,705 from the previous week. There were 437,543 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.1 percent during the week ending September 11, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 3,891,808, a decrease of 42,132 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.9 percent and the volume was 5,223,904.
Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin during the week ending September 4.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 3,918 in the week ending September 11, a decrease of 1,151 from the prior week. There were 4,011 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 265 from the preceding week.
There were 26,904 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending September 4, a decrease of 9,329 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 42,633, an increase of 537 from the prior week.
States reported 4,222,314 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending September 4, an increase of 113,785 from the prior week. There were 3,213,139 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 September 4 were in Puerto Rico (6.2 percent), New Jersey (4.4), Oregon (4.3), Nevada (4.2), Pennsylvania (4.2), Alaska (4.0), California (3.9), Connecticut (3.8), Illinois (3.6) and Wisconsin (3.6).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 11 were in Florida (+2,755), Wisconsin (+803), Virginia (+542), Iowa (+357) and Kansas (+231), while the largest decreases were in California (-10,754), Texas (-3,818), New York (-3,407), Pennsylvania (-3,175) and Georgia (-2,466).
