Initial U.S. unemployment claims increased by 31,000 last week

In the week ending February 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 473,000, an increase of 31,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 442,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on February 18. The four-week moving average was 467,500, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 469,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending February 6, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.5 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 6 was 4,563,000, unchanged from the preceding week's revised level of 4,563,000. The four-week moving average was 4,585,750, a decrease of 24,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,609,750.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.240 million.  

Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 476,730 in the week ending February 13, a decrease of 30,850 from the previous week. There were 619,951 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.3 percent during the week ending February 6, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 5,539,706, a decrease of 150,689 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.5 percent and the volume was 5,972,146.

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, 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 January 30.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 1,431 in the week ending February 6, a decrease of 138 from the prior week. There were 2,283 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 41 from the preceding week.

There were 26,387 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending January 30, an increase of 511 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,385, a decrease of 1,030 from the prior week.

States reported 5,797,875 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending January 30, an increase of 304,748 from the prior week. There were 1,903,779 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 January 30 were in Alaska (7.2 percent), Puerto Rico (6.9), Idaho (6.5), Oregon (6.5), Pennsylvania (6.4), Wisconsin (6.4), Montana (6.3), Nevada (5.9), Michigan (5.6), Rhode Island (5.5) and Washington (5.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 6 were in Iowa (+2,014), Michigan (+1,724), Arkansas (+1,334) and Oklahoma (+1,246), while the largest decreases were in California (-13,535), Pennsylvania (-9,491), Florida (-3,587), Illinois (-1,815) and Wisconsin (-1,412).