SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Dec. 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 420,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 423,000. The 4-week moving average was 422,750, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 428,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.3 percent for the week ending Dec. 4, unchanged from the prior week's revised rate of 3.3 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Dec. 4 was 4,135,000, an increase of 22,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,113,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,185,500, a decrease of 47,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,232,750.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 486,284 in the week ending Dec. 11, a decrease of 99,225 from the previous week. There were 555,383 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.2 percent during the week ending Dec. 4, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,031,909, a decrease of 183,602 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.9 percent and the volume was 5,192,075.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending Nov. 27 was 9,191,897.

Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, during the week ending Nov. 27.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,968 in the week ending Dec. 4, an increase of 523 from the prior week. There were 2,876 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 1,302 from the preceding week.

There were 50,941 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Nov. 27, an increase of 7,139 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 43,927, an increase of 4,084 from the prior week.

States reported 3,854,067 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Nov. 27, an increase of 142,931 from the prior week. There were 4,218,262 claimants in the comparable week in 2009. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Nov. 27 were in Alaska (6.9 percent), Oregon (5.4), Puerto Rico (5.0), Montana (4.6), Wisconsin (4.6), Idaho (4.5), Nevada (4.4), Pennsylvania (4.4), California (4.3), and New Jersey (4.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Dec. 4 were in New York (+16,863), North Carolina (+15,276), Pennsylvania (+15,174), Georgia (+15,019), and California (+13,585), while the largest decreases were in Iowa (-2,146), Idaho (-1,169), Puerto Rico (-609), Vermont (-418), and Montana (-191).

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA FOR REGULAR STATE PROGRAMS

INITIAL CLAIMS FILED IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS (UNADJUSTED)

PERSONS CLAIMING UI BENEFITS IN ALL 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 125,845,577 as denominator. 3 - EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity. Tier-specific EUC data can be found here: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/docs/persons.xls4 - Information on the EB program can be found here: http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/extenben.asp 5 - Some states maintain additional benefit programs for those claimants who exhaust regular, extended and emergency benefits. Information on states that participate and the extent of benefits can be found starting on page 4-5 of this link: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2010/special.pdf 6 - Information on STC/Worksharing can be found starting on page 4-9 of the following link: http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/uilawcompar/2010/special.pdf

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 12/04/2010

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

This information will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-693-4676. TDD Message Phone: 1-800-326-2577. News releases from the U.S. Department of Labor are accessible on the Internet at: http://www.dol.gov/ and http://www.ows.doleta.gov/