SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending January 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 352,000, a decrease of 50,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 402,000. The 4-week moving average was 379,000, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 382,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7 percent for the week ending January 7, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 7, was 3,432,000, a decrease of 215,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,647,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,576,250, a decrease of 34,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,610,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 521,613 in the week ending January 14, a decrease of 124,606 from the previous week. There were 549,688 initial claims in the comparable week in 2011.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.2 percent during the week ending January 7, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,076,626, a decrease of 84,257 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.7 percent and the volume was 4,652,805.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 31 was 7,826,665, an increase of 493,566 from the previous week.

Extended benefits were available in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin during the week ending December 31.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,651 in the week ending January 7, an increase of 1,006 from the prior week. There were 2,578 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 683 from the preceding week.

There were 31,866 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending December 31, an increase of 2,003 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 42,291, an increase of 194 from the prior week.

States reported 3,026,855 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending December 31, an increase of 100,179 from the prior week. There were 3,719,607 claimants in the comparable week in 2011. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 31 were in Alaska (6.9), Connecticut (6.6), Oregon (5.0), Wisconsin (4.9), Pennsylvania (4.7), Idaho (4.5), Rhode Island (4.5), Montana (4.3), New Jersey (4.2), Arkansas (4.0), Illinois (4.0), and Washington (4.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 7 were in New York (+29,389), California (+22,168), Texas (+13,946), North Carolina (+7,865), and Georgia (+7,225) while the largest decreases were in Wisconsin (-7,657), Michigan (-5,208), Iowa (-4,675), New Jersey (-4,667), and Kentucky (-3,577).

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 126,579,970 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 paid, 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 01/07/2012

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/