Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report Week Ending October 31, 2009 SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Oct. 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 512,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 532,000. The 4-week moving average was 523,750, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average of 526,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.4 percent for the week ending Oct. 24, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.4 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Oct. 24 was 5,749,000, a decrease of 68,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5,817,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,886,250, a decrease of 79,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,965,750. UNADJUSTED DATA The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 480,178 in the week ending Oct. 31, a decrease of 14,216 from the previous week. There were 466,341 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.7 percent during the week ending Oct. 24, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,915,719, a decrease of 69,231 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.5 percent and the volume was 3,310,892. 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 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 Oct. 17. Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,069 in the week ending Oct. 24, an increase of 174 from the prior week. There were 2,507 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 90 from the preceding week. There were 21,660 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Oct. 17, an increase of 443 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 33,900, an increase of 819 from the prior week. States reported 3,459,148 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Oct. 17, an increase of 90,239 from the prior week. There were
836,629 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 Oct. 17 were in Puerto Rico (6.4 percent), Nevada (5.4), Oregon (5.4), California (4.9), Pennsylvania (4.9), Arkansas (4.8), Wisconsin (4.8), Michigan (4.7), Alaska (4.6), North Carolina (4.6), and South Carolina (4.6). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Oct. 24 were in California (+14,394), North Carolina (+3,190), Oregon (+3,131), Georgia (+2,549), and New York (+2,287), while the largest decreases were in Indiana (-2,346), Puerto Rico (-1,479), Iowa (-969), Nevada (-605), and Florida (-544).
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA FOR REGULAR STATE PROGRAMS
WEEK ENDING Initial Claims (SA) Initial Claims (NSA) 4-Wk Moving Average (SA) WEEK ENDING Ins. Unemployment (SA) Ins. Unemployment (NSA) 4-Wk Moving Average (SA) Ins. Unemployment Rate (SA)2 Ins. Unemployment Rate (NSA)2
Advance Oct. 31 512,000 480,178 523,750 Advance Oct. 24
Oct. 24 532,000 494,394 526,750 Oct. 17
Change -20,000 -14,216 -3,000 Change
Oct. 17 531,000 460,430 532,250 Oct. 10
Prior1 Year 488,000 466,341 480,250 Prior1 Year
5,749,000 5,817,000 4,915,719 4,984,950 5,886,250 5,965,750 4.4% 3.7% 4.4% 3.8%
-68,000 5,945,000 3,859,000 -69,231 4,916,574 3,310,892 -79,500 6,039,500 3,785,750 0.0 -0.1 4.5% 3.7% 2.9% 2.5%
INITIAL CLAIMS FILED IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED)
WEEK ENDING Federal Employees Newly Discharged Veterans
Oct. 24 2,069 2,507
Oct. 17 1,895 2,417
Change +174 +90
Prior1 Year 1,367 1,762
PERSONS CLAIMING UI BENEFITS IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED)
WEEK ENDING Federal Employees Newly Discharged Veterans Railroad Retirement Board Extended Benefits EUC 20083
Oct. 17 21,660 33,900 10,000 551,304 3,459,148
Oct. 10 21,217 33,081 10,000 526,704 3,368,909
Change +443 +819 0 +24,600 +90,239
Prior1 Year 14,427 23,057 3,000 14,084 836,629
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 131,823,421 as denominator. 3 - EUC weekly claims include both first and second tier activity. UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 10/24/2009
STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000
State IN PR
Change -2,346 -1,479
State Supplied Comment No comment. No comment.
STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000
State MD TN MI WA NJ
Change +1,005 +1,048 +1,161 +1,190 +1,340
State Supplied Comment No comment. Layoffs in the service and manufacturing industries. No comment. Layoffs in the construction industry, and agriculture. Layoffs in the construction, trade, service, transportation, and
PA SC NY GA OR NC CA
+2,051 +2,084 +2,287 +2,549 +3,131 +3,190 +14,394
warehousing industries. Layoffs in the service and manufacturing industries. Layoffs in the manufacturing industry. Layoffs in the construction, service, and manufacturing industries. Layoffs in the construction, trade, and manufacturing industries. No comment. Layoffs in the construction, service, industrial machinery, and transportation industries. Layoffs in the construction, trade, service, and manufacturing industries, and agriculture.