Initial U.S. unemployment claims rose by 2,000 last week

In the week ending August 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 484,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 482,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported on August 12. The four-week moving average was 473,500, an increase of 14,250 from the previous week's revised average of 459,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending July 31, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 31 was 4,452,000, a decrease of 118,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,570,000. The four-week moving average was 4,518,500, a decrease of 64,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,583,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.018 million. 

Unadjusted data:The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 420,997 in the week ending August 7, an increase of 18,862 from the previous week. There were 482,590 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent during the week ending July 31, 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 4,296,612, a decrease of 154,102 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.4 percent and the volume was 5,896,062.

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 24.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 3,247 in the week ending July 31, a decrease of 69 from the prior week. There were 2,668 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 122 from the preceding week.

There were 23,114 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending July 24, an increase of 239 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 43,411, an increase of 724 from the prior week.

States reported 4,493,351 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending July 24, an increase of 1,158,473 from the prior week. There were 2,867,229 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 24 were in Puerto Rico (6.8 percent), Pennsylvania (4.9), California (4.7), Oregon (4.7), New Jersey (4.6), Alaska (4.4), Connecticut (4.4), Nevada (4.4), Wisconsin (4.2) and Rhode Island (4.1).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 31 were in Wisconsin (+1,901), Georgia (+1,738), Pennsylvania (+1,536), Ohio (+1,188) and New York (+1,159), while the largest decreases were in Indiana (-4,377), Florida (-3,816), Tennessee (-2,465), Illinois (-2,056) and Kentucky (-1,567).