News Release
U.S. Department of Labor Office of Public Affairs Washington, D.C.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Aug. 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 500,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 488,000. The 4-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 Aug. 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 Aug. 7 was 4,478,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,491,000. The 4-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 unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent during the week ending Aug. 7, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI 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 UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 4,101 in the week ending Aug. 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 UI 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 Aug. 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).

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 08/07/2010 

This information will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-693-4676. TDD Message Phone: 1-800-326-2577.  News releases from the U.S. Department of Labor are accessible on the Internet at: http://www.dol.gov/ and  http://www.oui.doleta.gov/