Washington, DC…In the week ending Dec. 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 388,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 422,000. The 4-week moving average was 414,000, a decrease of 12,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 426,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.3 percent for the week ending Dec. 18, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.2 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Dec.18 was 4,128,000, an increase of 57,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,071,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,120,000, a decrease of 37,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,157,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 521,834 in the week ending Dec. 25, an increase of 24,879 from the previous week. There were 556,517 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.3 percent during the week ending Dec. 18, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,095,135, a decrease of 85,886 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.9 percent and the volume was 5,088,864.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending Dec. 4 was 8,866,924.

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 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 Dec. 11.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,538 in the week ending Dec. 18, a decrease of 744 from the prior week. There were 2,494 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 92 from the preceding week.

There were 58,174 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Dec. 11, an increase of 10,596 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 43,215, an increase of 1,039 from the prior week.

States reported 3,711,288 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Dec. 11, a decrease of 77,741 from the prior week. There were 4,869,540 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 Dec. 11 were in Alaska (7.3 percent), Puerto Rico (5.1), Montana (4.8), Oregon (4.8), Pennsylvania (4.6), Idaho (4.5), California (4.4), Nevada (4.3), New Jersey (4.2), and Wisconsin (4.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Dec. 18 were in New Jersey (+5,235), Michigan (+3,087), Missouri (+2,404), Florida (+2,281), and Oregon (+2,026), while the largest decreases were in California (-7,656), Illinois (-3,149), Georgia (-1,935), Pennsylvania (-1,574), and Texas (-1,494).