New unemployment data has Oregon among the highest

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

US Department of Labor — In the week ending Dec. 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 492,000, a decrease of 94,000 from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 586,000. The 4-week moving average was 552,250, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 558,000.  The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent for the week ending Dec. 20, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.3 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Dec. 20 was 4,506,000, an increase of 140,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,366,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,422,500, an increase of 103,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,318,750.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 718,468 in the week ending Dec. 27, an increase of 1,892 from the previous week. There were 507,908 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4 percent during the week ending Dec. 20, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,568,685, a decrease of 19,701 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.1 percent and the volume was 2,812,156.

Extended benefits were available in North Carolina, Oregon, and Rhode Island during the week ending Dec. 13.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,610 in the week ending Dec. 20, a decrease of 589 from the prior week. There were 1,974 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 82 from the preceding week.

There were 18,787 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Dec. 13, an increase of 327 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 25,547, an increase of 803 from the prior week.

States reported 1,561,311 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Dec. 13, an increase of 84,941 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Dec. 13 were in Michigan (5.5 percent), Oregon (5.3), Puerto Rico (5.1), Idaho (4.9), Nevada (4.8), Pennsylvania (4.8), Alaska (4.7), Wisconsin (4.5), California (4.2), New Jersey (4.2), Rhode Island (4.2), and South Carolina (4.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Dec. 20 were in California (+20,866), Kentucky (+13,337), Michigan (+8,160), Missouri (+7,091), and Indiana (+6,795), while the largest decreases were in Massachusetts (-4,016), Georgia (-3,525), New Jersey (-1,866), Tennessee (-1,649), and Illinois (-1,194).


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