Washington, DC…In the week ending May 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 422,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 428,000. The 4-week moving average was 425,500, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 439,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.0 percent for the week ending May 21, unchanged from the prior week’s revised rate of 3.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 21 was 3,711,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,712,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,737,750, a decrease of 10,000 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,747,750.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 377,421 in the week ending May 28, an increase of 1,701 from the previous week. There were 418,873 initial claims in the comparable week in 2010.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.8 percent during the week ending May 21, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,477,006, a decrease of 63,881 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.4 percent and the volume was 4,380,562.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending May 14 was 7,682,830, a decrease of 56,742 from the previous week.

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, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia, during the week ending May 14.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,648 in the week ending May 21, an increase of 98 from the prior week. There were 2,394 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 88 from the preceding week.

There were 23,585 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 14, a decrease of 2,417 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,606, an increase of 584 from the prior week.

States reported 3,415,223 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending May 14, an increase of 3,363 from the prior week. There were 4,998,428 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 May 14 were in Alaska (5.3 percent), Puerto Rico (4.7), Oregon (4.1), California (3.9), Pennsylvania (3.9), Nevada (3.6), New Jersey (3.6), Connecticut (3.5), Rhode Island (3.3), and Wisconsin (3.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 21 were in California (+7,053), Massachusetts (+1,948), South Carolina (+1,066), Wisconsin (+1,019), Pennsylvania (+959), while the largest decreases were in Alabama (-1,448), Oregon (-1,104), Kentucky (-696), Idaho (-557) and Hawaii (-438).

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA FOR REGULAR STATE PROGRAMS

INITIAL CLAIMS FILED IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED)

PERSONS CLAIMING UI BENEFITS IN ALL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED)

FOOTNOTES
SA – Seasonally Adjusted Data, NSA – Not Seasonally Adjusted Data
¹ – Prior year is comparable to most recent data.
² – Most recent week used covered employment of 125,572,661 as denominator.
³ – EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity. Tier-specific EUC data can be found here: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/docs/persons.xls
⁴ – Information on the EB program can be found here: http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/extenben.asp
⁵ – Some states maintain additional benefit programs for those claimants who exhaust regular, extended and emergency benefits. Information on states that participate and the extent of benefits can be found starting on page 4-5 of this link: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2010/special.pdf
⁶ – Information on STC/Worksharing can be found starting on page 4-9 of the following link: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2010/special.pdf

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 05/21/2011

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000

State Detail Prior Week
UI Claims Series 1967 to current