In the week ending August 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 500,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 488,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on August 19. The four-week moving average was 482,500, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised average of 474,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending August 7, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.5 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 7 was 4,478,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,491,000. The four-week moving average was 4,526,750, a decrease of 1,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,528,250.
The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.010 million.
Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 401,856 in the week ending August 14, a decrease of 22,650 from the previous week. There were 457,985 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent during the week ending August 7, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 4,254,571, a decrease of 78,949 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.4 percent and the volume was 5,808,572.
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, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin during the week ending July 31.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 4,101 in the week ending August 7, an increase of 854 from the prior week. There were 2,926 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 258 from the preceding week.
There were 24,121 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending July 31, an increase of 1,007 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 42,626, a decrease of 785 from the prior week.
States reported 4,753,456 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending July 31, an increase of 260,105 from the prior week. There were 2,961,457 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 July 31 were in Puerto Rico (6.7 percent), Pennsylvania (4.8), New Jersey (4.6), Oregon (4.6), California (4.5), Alaska (4.3), Connecticut (4.3), Nevada (4.3), Rhode Island (4.1) and Wisconsin (4.1).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 7 were in California (+4,393), Indiana (+1,999), North Carolina (+1,895), Pennsylvania (+1,626) and Georgia (+1,458), while the largest decreases were in Wisconsin (-1,873), Puerto Rico (-1,014), New Jersey (-688), Utah (-503) and South Carolina (-291).