Seasonally Adjusted Data
In the week ending Dec. 21, 2019 the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 222,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 234,000 to 235,000. The four-week moving average was 228,000, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 225,500 to 225,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending Dec. 14, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Dec. 14 was 1,719,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 3,000 from 1,722,000 to 1,725,000. The four-week moving average was 1,703,500, an increase of 19,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 750 from 1,683,500 to 1,684,250.
Unadjusted Data
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 284,779 in the week ending Dec. 21, an increase of 14,390 (or 5.3%) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 31,506 (or 11.7%) from the previous week. There were 291,625 initial claims in the comparable week in 2018.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% during the week ending Dec. 14, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 1,794,259, an increase of 66,208 (or 3.8%) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 72,433 (or 4.2%) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.2% and the volume was 1,765,007.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending Dec. 7 was 1,758,132, a decrease of 24,128 from the previous week. There were 1,752,109 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2018. No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending Dec. 7.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,164 in the week ending Dec. 14, a decrease of 83 from the prior week. There were 537 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 71 from the preceding week.
There were 11,240 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Dec. 7, an increase of 1,572 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 5,537, a decrease of 321 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Dec. 7 were in Alaska (2.8), West Virginia (2.2), New Jersey (2.1), Puerto Rico (2.1), Pennsylvania (2.0), California (1.9), Connecticut (1.9), Montana (1.9), Washington (1.8), Illinois (1.7), and Minnesota (1.7).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 14 were in West Virginia (+397), Illinois (+278), Idaho (+188), North Dakota (+124), and Kentucky (+70), while the largest decreases were in New York (-6,288), Texas (-5,612), Pennsylvania (-4,726), Wisconsin (-3,770), and Georgia (-2,997).
