UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending March 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 654,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 645,000. The 4-week moving average was 650,000, an increase of 6,750 from the previous week's revised average of 643,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.0 percent for the week ending Feb. 28, an increase of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.8 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Feb. 28 was 5,317,000, an increase of 193,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5,124,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,139,750, an increase of 124,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,015,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 4.533 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 648,363 in the week ending March 7, an increase of 2,536 from the previous week. There were 341,685 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.8 percent during the week ending Feb. 28, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 6,396,429, an increase of 165,349 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.5 percent and the volume was 3,340,432.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and Washington during the week ending Feb. 21.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,179 in the week ending Feb. 28, an increase of 38 from the prior week. There were 1,949 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 211 from the preceding week.

There were 19,152 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Feb. 21, a decrease of 850 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 28,722, an increase of 813 from the prior week.

States reported 1,414,439 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Feb. 21, a decrease of 18,480 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Feb. 21 were in Michigan (7.7 percent), Oregon (7.4), Idaho (7.2), Wisconsin (6.7), Rhode Island (6.5), Pennsylvania (6.3), Nevada (6.2), Montana (5.9), Alaska (5.7), Indiana (5.7), Massachusetts (5.7), New Jersey (5.7), and Vermont (5.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Feb. 28 were in New York (+16,481), California (+7,765), Oregon (+4,001), Georgia (+3,313), and Wisconsin (+3,006), while the largest decreases were in Missouri (-3,350), Massachusetts (-3,263), New Jersey (-1,973), Florida (-1,559), and New Mexico (-1,005).

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 02/28/2009

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