In the week ending January 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 467,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 491,000, the U.S. Department of Labor announced on January 8. The four-week moving average was 525,750, a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week's revised average of 552,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent for the week ending December 27, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.4 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 27 was 4,611,000, an increase of 101,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,510,000. The four-week moving average was 4,470,000, an increase of 45,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,425,000.
Unadjusted data: The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 726,420 in the week ending January 3, an increase of 9,420 from the previous week. There were 521,311 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.0 percent during the week ending December 27, an increase of 0.6 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming unemployment insurance benefits in state programs totaled 5,316,124, an increase of 743,487 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.5 percent and the volume was 3,273,400.
Extended benefits were available in North Carolina, Oregon and Rhode Island during the week ending December 20.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits by former federal civilian employees totaled 1,420 in the week ending December 27, a decrease of 193 from the prior week. There were 1,116 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 841 from the preceding week.
There were 19,144 former federal civilian employees claiming unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending December 20, an increase of 199 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 24,088, a decrease of 1,410 from the prior week.
States reported 1,922,497 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending December 20, an increase of 359,728 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 20 were in Oregon (6.1 percent), Idaho (5.3), Michigan (5.2), Nevada (5.1), Puerto Rico (5.0), Pennsylvania (4.7), Wisconsin (4.7), South Carolina (4.4), Arkansas (4.3), Indiana (4.2), New Jersey (4.2) and Washington (4.2).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 27 were in Wisconsin (+16,081), Michigan (+10,524), Kansas (+10,485), Massachusetts (+10,265) and New Jersey (+7,330), while the largest decreases were in Texas (-13,232), California (-9,702), Florida (-8,566), Virginia (-5,943) and South Carolina (-4,678).
