Washington, DC…In the week ending September 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 414,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 412,000. The 4-week moving average was 414,750, an increase of 3,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 411,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.0 percent for the week ending August 27, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 27 was 3,717,000, a decrease of 30,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,747,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,734,500, an increase of 5,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,729,000.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 346,065 in the week ending September 3, an increase of 9,355 from the previous week. There were 381,863 initial claims in the comparable week in 2010.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7 percent during the week ending August 27, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,416,001, a decrease of 57,181 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.3 percent and the volume was 4,138,965.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending August 20 was 7,169,176, a decrease of 167,009 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 August 20.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,015 in the week ending August 27, an increase of 272 from the prior week. There were 2,687 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 55 from the preceding week.

There were 23,988 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending August 20, a decrease of 2,028 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 38,171, an increase of 138 from the prior week.

States reported 3,060,622 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending August 20, a decrease of 57,420 from the prior week. There were 4,507,669 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 August 20 were in Puerto Rico (5.1), New Jersey (4.1),Pennsylvania (4.1), Alaska (3.8) , Connecticut (3.8), California (3.7), Rhode Island (3.7), Oregon (3.6), Nevada (3.4), Massachusetts (3.2), and New York (3.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 27 were in California (+3,337), South Carolina (+3,108), Florida (+914), Kansas (+437), and Arkansas (+232) while the largest decreases were in New Jersey(-2,415), Pennsylvania (-2,371), Oregon (-1,680), North Carolina (-1,591), and Massachusetts (-1,438).