In the week ending October 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 434,000, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 455,000, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on October 28. The four-week moving average was 453,250, a decrease of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average of 458,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending October 16, 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 October 16 was 4,356,000, a decrease of 122,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,478,000. The four-week moving average was 4,447,250, a decrease of 38,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,485,750.
Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 405,639 in the week ending October 23, an increase of 11,678 from the previous week. There were 494,476 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.0 percent during the week ending October 16, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 3,742,003, an increase of 25,405 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.8 percent and the volume was 4,984,950.
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 October 9.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 5,441 in the week ending October 16, a decrease of 5,308 from the prior week. There were 2,599 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 556 from the preceding week.
There were 37,306 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending October 9, an increase of 5,136 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 41,689, an increase of 695 from the prior week.
States reported 3,782,011 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending October 9, a decrease of 258,102 from the prior week. There were 3,407,257 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 October 9 were in Puerto Rico (6.9 percent), Alaska (4.9), Oregon (4.1), Pennsylvania (4.1), Nevada (4.0), California (3.9), New Jersey (3.8), Connecticut (3.6), South Carolina (3.5) and Wisconsin (3.5).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending October 16 were in Puerto Rico (+1,115), Minnesota (+521), Wisconsin (+294), Florida (+190) and Alabama (+158), while the largest decreases were in California (-13,701), North Carolina (-6,607), New York (-6,382), Pennsylvania (-5,248) and Texas (-4,385).
