UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Jan. 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 626,000, an increase of 35,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 591,000. The 4-week moving average was 582,250, an increase of 39,000 from the previous week's revised average of 543,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending Jan. 24, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Jan. 24 was 4,788,000, an increase of 20,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,768,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,672,000, an increase of 44,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,628,000.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 676,590 in the week ending Jan. 31, an increase of 56,478 from the previous week. There were 380,138 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.3 percent during the week ending Jan. 24, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,793,331, an increase of 62,724 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.5 percent and the volume was 3,344,396.

Extended benefits were available in North Carolina, Oregon, and Rhode Island during the week ending Jan. 17.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,586 in the week ending Jan. 24, a decrease of 252 from the prior week. There were 2,719 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 498 from the preceding week.

There were 20,857 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Jan. 17, an increase of 632 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 26,742, a decrease of 477 from the prior week.

States reported 1,738,162 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Jan. 17, an increase of 19,476 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Jan. 17 were in Michigan (8.9 percent), Idaho (6.6), Oregon (6.6), Pennsylvania (6.2), South Carolina (6.0), Wisconsin (6.0), Alaska (5.6), Nevada (5.5), Indiana (5.4), and Montana (5.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Jan. 24 were in Wisconsin (+1,355), Rhode Island (+689), Virginia (+682), Oklahoma (+406), and Puerto Rico (+314), while the largest decreases were in Florida (-14,703), California (-12,074), Michigan (-11,639), Georgia (-9,949), and Ohio (-9,926).

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA FOR REGULAR STATE PROGRAMS

INITIAL CLAIMS FILED IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED)

PERSONS CLAIMING UI BENEFITS IN FEDERAL 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 133,886,830 as denominator.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 01/24/2009

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000

State Detail Prior WeekUI Claims Series 1967 to current