In the week ending November 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 436,000, an increase of 26,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 410,000, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on December 2. The four-week moving average was 431,000, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average of 436,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent for the week ending November 20, unchanged from the prior week's revised rate of 3.4 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 20 was 4,270,000, an increase of 53,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,217,000. The four-week moving average was 4,288,500, a decrease of 29,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,317,750.
Unadjusted data:The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 410,617 in the week ending November 27, a decrease of 54,196 from the previous week. There were 457,669 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.9 percent during the week ending November 20, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 3,659,067, a decrease of 211,927 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.6 percent and the volume was 4,791,687.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending November 13 was 8,909,882.
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 November 13.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 3,132 in the week ending November 20, a decrease of 169 from the prior week. There were 2,555 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 361 from the preceding week.
There were 48,899 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending November 13, an increase of 5,052 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 42,647, an increase of 641 from the prior week.
States reported 3,944,168 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending November 13, an increase of 142,874 from the prior week. There were 3,781,434 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 November 13 were in Alaska (6.3 percent), Puerto Rico (5.3), Oregon (4.6), Pennsylvania (4.2), California (4.1), New Jersey (4.0), Nevada (3.9), Arkansas (3.6), Connecticut (3.6), Illinois (3.6) and Montana (3.6).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending November 20 were in California (+4,442), Pennsylvania (+4,124), Kentucky (+4,097), Illinois (+3,448) and Texas (+2,999), while the largest decreases were in Indiana (-1,161), Puerto Rico (-725), Hawaii (-253), the Virgin Islands (-18) and the District of Columbia (-7).
