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 October 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 404,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 405,000. The 4-week moving average was 408,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 415,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.9 percent for the week ending October 1, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 3.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 1 was 3,670,000, a decrease of 55,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,725,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,724,000, a decrease of 21,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,745,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent during the week ending October 1, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,093,486, a decrease of 72,423 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.9 percent and the volume was 3,705,947.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending September 24 was 6,821,585, a decrease of 39,203 from the previous week.

Extended benefits were available in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin during the week ending September 24.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,424 in the week ending October 1, an increase of 213 from the prior week. There were 2,748 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 18 from the preceding week.

There were 24,928 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending September 24, an increase of 1,060 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 39,134, an increase of 515 from the prior week.

States reported 3,016,035 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending September 24, a decrease of 11,412 from the prior week. There were 3,888,001 claimants in the comparable week in 2010. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending September 24 were in Puerto Rico (4.6), Alaska (3.8), Pennsylvania (3.6), California (3.4), New Jersey (3.4), Oregon (3.3), Nevada (3.2), Connecticut (3.1), Arkansas (3.0), Illinois (2.9), and South Carolina (2.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending October 1 were in North Carolina (+3,354), California (+2,527), Indiana (+866), Washington (+758), and Illinois (+754) while the largest decreases were in Alabama (-1,883), Michigan (-1,469), Florida (-1,175), Pennsylvania (-966), and Georgia
(-646).

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 10/1/2011 

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/