News Release
U.S. Department of Labor Office of Public Affairs Washington, D.C.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Aug. 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 576,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 561,000. The 4-week moving average was 570,000, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 565,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.7 percent for the week ending Aug. 8, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.7 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 8 was 6,241,000, an increase of 2,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6,239,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,266,000, a decrease of 2,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,268,500.  

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.565 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.4 percent during the week ending Aug. 8, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,798,001, a decrease of 97,650 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.4 percent and the volume was 3,160,610.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin during the week ending Aug. 1.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,639 in the week ending Aug. 8, an increase of 271 from the prior week. There were 2,252 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 232 from the preceding week.

There were 20,577 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Aug. 1, an increase of 1,009 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 30,325, a decrease of 15 from the prior week.

States reported 2,877,756 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Aug. 1, an increase of 92,384 from the prior week. There were 1,406,779 claimants in the comparable week in 2008. EUC weekly claims include both first and second tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Aug. 1 were in Puerto Rico (7.3 percent), Oregon (6.2), Pennsylvania (6.1), Michigan (5.9), Nevada (5.9), Wisconsin (5.5), California (5.3), Connecticut (5.3), New Jersey (5.3), North Carolina (5.1), and South Carolina (5.1).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Aug. 8 were in Tennessee (+2,525), North Carolina (+2,469), Wisconsin (+2,078), Georgia (+1,753), and Washington (+1,697), while the largest decreases were in California (-5,635), Michigan (-1,490), Ohio (-951), Kentucky (-690), and Delaware (-226).

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 08/08/2009 

This information will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-693-4676. TDD Message Phone: 1-800-326-2577.  News releases from the U.S. Department of Labor are accessible on the Internet at: http://www.dol.gov/ and  https://oui.doleta.gov/