Washington, DC…In the week ending April 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 382,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 392,000. The 4-week moving average was 389,500, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 395,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.0 percent for the week ending March 26, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 26 was 3,723,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,732,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,745,750, a decrease of 24,000 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,769,750.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 350,667 in the week ending April 2, a decrease of 6,790 from the previous week. There were 421,130 initial claims in the comparable week in 2010.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.2 percent during the week ending March 26, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,069,327, a decrease of 61,739 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.9 percent and the volume was 5,055,002.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending March 19 was 8,524,455.

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, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, during the week ending March 19.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,487 in the week ending March 26, a decrease of 79 from the prior week. There were 2,306 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 196 from the preceding week.

There were 36,787 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 19, a decrease of 3,377 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 38,663, an increase of 12 from the prior week.

States reported 3,563,031 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending March 19, a decrease of 25,785 from the prior week. There were 5,590,944 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 March 19 were in Alaska (6.5 percent), Puerto Rico (4.9), Idaho (4.7), Oregon (4.7), Rhode Island (4.7), Pennsylvania (4.6), Wisconsin (4.6), Montana (4.5), Connecticut (4.4), New Jersey (4.4), and California (4.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 26 were in Texas (+3,866), California (+3,580), Oregon (2,785), New Jersey (+926), Arkansas (+873), while the largest decreases were in North Carolina (-3,137), Massachusetts (-2,251), Florida (-1,151), Georgia (-1,141), and Oklahoma
(-689).