SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending December 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 339,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 341,000. The 4-week moving average was 357,250, an increase of 8,500 from the previous week's revised average of 348,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent for the week ending December 21, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 21 was 2,833,000, a decrease of 98,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,931,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,857,750, an increase of 19,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,838,750.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 443,513 in the week ending December 28, an increase of 25,875 from the previous week. There were 490,099 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent during the week ending December 21, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,860,902, a decrease of 131,772 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.6 percent and the volume was 3,284,594.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 14 was 4,458,816, an increase of 179,532 from the previous week. There were 5,408,010 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012.

No state was triggered "on" the Extended Benefits program during the week ending December 14.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,864 in the week ending December 21, a decrease of 5 from the prior week. There were 1,994 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 10 from the preceding week.

There were 22,751 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending December 14, an increase of 1,994 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 31,991, an increase of 532 from the prior week.

States reported 1,391,297 persons claiming Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits for the week ending December 14, an increase of 57,965 from the prior week. There were 2,065,706 persons claiming EUC in the comparable week in 2012. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 21 were in Alaska (6.1), New Jersey (3.8), California (3.4), Montana (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.3), Connecticut (3.2), Puerto Rico (3.2), Illinois (3.0), Wisconsin (3.0), Oregon (2.9), West Virginia (2.9), and Nevada (2.8).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 21 were in Michigan (+4,865), New York (+3,284), Oregon (+1,901), New Jersey (+1,887), and Kentucky (+1,538), while the largest decreases were in California (-5,429), Illinois (-3,509), Washington (-1,930), Minnesota (-1,627), and Indiana (-1,363).

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 130,396,096 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 DECEMBER 21, 2013

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000

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.oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims_arch.asp