Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

Seasonally Adjusted Data

March 26, 2009 -- In the week ending March 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 652,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 644,000. The 4-week moving average was 649,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 650,000.

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The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.2 percent for the week ending March 14, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.1 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 14 was 5,560,000, an increase of 122,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5,438,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,331,250, an increase of 123,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,207,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 4.646 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 585,897 in the week ending March 21, a decrease of 15,266 from the previous week. There were 316,598 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.8 percent during the week ending March 14, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 6,433,406, an increase of 76,204 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.4 percent and the volume was 3,254,650.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin during the week ending March 7.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,113 in the week ending March 14, a decrease of 84 from the prior week. There were 1,836 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 240 from the preceding week.

There were 18,713 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 7, a decrease of 1,192 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 29,061, an increase of 225 from the prior week.

States reported 1,468,667 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending March 7, a decrease of 20,247 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 7 were in Michigan (7.8 percent), Oregon (7.6), Idaho (7.2), Wisconsin (6.8), Pennsylvania (6.5), Rhode Island (6.5), Nevada (6.2), Montana (6.0), Indiana (5.9), and Vermont (5.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 14 were in Tennessee (+1,394), Texas (+1,028), Rhode Island (+904), North Dakota (+857), and Connecticut (+522), while the largest decreases were in California (-8,555), Michigan (-7,523), Indiana (-7,475), Pennsylvania (-3,757), and Ohio (-3,397).

Source: Labor Dept.