Initial claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending September 19 both decreased and increased, depending on whether we are comparing "seasonally-adjusted" or "unadjusted data," according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department.

New claims that week were a seasonally-adjusted 530,000, down 21,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 551,000. The four-week moving average - which smooths out volatility - was 553,500, down 11,000 from the previous week's revised average of 564,500.

For the week ending September 12, the advance seasonally-adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.6% - a decrease of .1% from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.7%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Sept. 12 was 6,138,000, a decrease of 123,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6,261,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,187,250, a decrease of 1,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,188,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.651 million.

But taking a look at unadjusted data, the advance number of initial claimants among state programs in the week ending September 19 totaled 434,358 - an increase of 21,966 from the previous week. For the same week in 2008, there were 398,070 initial claims.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate in the week ending September 12 was 3.9%, a decrease of .1% from the week prior. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming benefits in state programs totaled 5,204,972, a decrease of 91,789 from the preceding week.

A year earlier, the rate was 2.3% and the volume was 3,014,874. States reported 3,223,849 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Sept. 5, an increase of 82,364 from the prior week. There were 1,116,863 claimants in the comparable week in 2008. EUC weekly claims include both first and second tier activity.

For the week ending September 5, Puerto Rico continued to have the highest insured unemployment rate in the U.S. at 6.7%, followed by Oregon at 5.6%, Nevada and Pennsylvania at 5.4%, and Michigan at 5.2%. The states of Wisconsin, California, New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina, and South Carolina also have high insured unemployment rates, all just under 5%.

For the week ending September 12, Wisconsin had the largest increase in initial claims of 1,573, citing layoffs in the construction, service, and manufacturing industries. Oregon reported an increase of 829 from the previous week and Kansas reported an increase of 677.

For that same week, Texas had the largest decrease in initial unemployment benefits claims, reporting 4,623 less than the previous week, followed by Illinois with 4,217 less - both states reported fewer layoffs in the trade, service, and manufacturing industries.

Pennsylvania had a weekly decrease of 3,961 due to fewer layoffs in the industrial machinery and service industries. Michigan reported a decrease of 3,012 and Massachusetts reported 2,389 less than the number of initial claims from the previous week.


Source:
U.S. Department of Labor