Weekly Employment Report

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending April 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 448,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 459,000. The 4-week moving average was 462,500, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 461,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending April 17, 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 17 was 4,645,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,663,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,639,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,648,000.
The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.186 million.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 423,286 in the week ending April 24, a decrease of 11,171 from the previous week. There were 583,457 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.7 percent during the week ending April 17, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,779,335, a decrease of 144,978 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.7 percent and the volume was 6,339,490.
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 10.
Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,219 in the week ending April 17, a decrease of 224 from the prior week. There were 2,441 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 23 from the preceding week.
There were 20,197 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 10, an increase of 113 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 37,051, an increase of 455 from the prior week.
States reported 5,200,473 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 10, a decrease of 146,641 from the prior week. There were 2,286,186 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 10 were in Alaska (6.6 percent), Puerto Rico (6.4), Oregon (5.9), Wisconsin (5.6), Pennsylvania (5.4), Nevada (5.2), California (5.0), Idaho (5.0), Montana (5.0), Michigan (4.9), and North Carolina (4.9).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 17 were in Puerto Rico (+3,549), Iowa (+1,606), Georgia (+1,412), Connecticut (+768), and Florida (+422), while the largest decreases were in New York (-21,010), California (-15,380), Pennsylvania (-4,512), Oregon (-4,317), and New Jersey (-3,777).
Source: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm