Thumbs Up: DOL reports new and continuing unemployment claims down last week

In the week ending Nov. 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 435,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 459,000. The 4-week moving average was 446,500, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised average of 456,500.
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UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA



In the week ending Nov. 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial
claims was 435,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week's revised
figure of 459,000. The 4-week moving average was 446,500, a decrease of 10,000
from the previous week's revised average of 456,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent
for the week ending Oct. 30, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior
week's revised rate of 3.5 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during
the week ending Oct. 30 was 4,301,000, a decrease of 86,000 from the preceding
week's revised level of 4,387,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,388,250,
a decrease of 35,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,424,000.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted,
totaled 449,905 in the week ending Nov. 6, an increase of 28,808 from the previous
week. There were 531,743 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.0 percent during the
week ending Oct. 30, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number
for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,745,901, a decrease
of 13,638 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.8 percent
and the volume was 4,961,610.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending Oct. 23 was 8,624,679.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees
totaled 3,769 in the week ending Oct. 30, a decrease of 35 from the
prior week. There were 2,505 initial claims by newly discharged
veterans, a decrease of 88 from the preceding week.

There were 43,177 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI
benefits for the week ending Oct. 23, a decrease of 2,142 from the
previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled
44,461, a decrease of 14,445 from the prior week.

States reported 3,815,914 persons claiming EUC (Emergency
Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Oct. 23, a
decrease of 162,460 from the prior week. There were 3,520,253 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 Oct. 23
were in Puerto Rico (6.1 percent), Alaska (5.2), California (4.1),
Oregon (4.1), Pennsylvania (4.0), Nevada (3.9), New Jersey (3.9),
Connecticut (3.6), Arkansas (3.5), South Carolina (3.5), and Wisconsin
(3.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Oct. 30
were in California (+6,387), Kentucky (+2,901), Wisconsin (+2,644),
Oregon (+2,296), and Indiana (+1,920), while the largest decreases were
in Florida (-3,450), South Carolina (-2,401), Illinois (-997), Georgia
(-923), and Pennsylvania (-897).

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA FOR REGULAR STATE PROGRAMS

INITIAL CLAIMS FILED IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED)

PERSONS CLAIMING UI BENEFITS IN ALL PROGRAMS
(UNADJUSTED)

FOOTNOTES

SA - Seasonally Adjusted Data,
NSA -
Not Seasonally Adjusted Data

¹ - Prior year is comparable
to most recent data.


² - Most recent week used covered employment of 125,845,577 as denominator.


³ - EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.
Tier-specific EUC data can be found here: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/docs/persons.xls

⁴ - Information on the EB program can be found here: http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/extenben.asp


⁵ - Some states maintain additional benefit programs for
those claimants who exhaust regular, extended and emergency benefits.
Information on states that participate and the extent of benefits can be
 found starting on page 4-5 of this link:
http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2010/special.pdf


⁶ - Information on STC/Worksharing can be found starting
on page 4-9 of the following link:
http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2010/special.pdf

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 10/30/2010 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

State Detail Prior Week