SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending January 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 330,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 345,000. The 4-week moving average was 349,000, a decrease of 9,750 from the previous week's revised average of 358,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent for the week ending December 28, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 28 was 2,865,000, an increase of 50,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,815,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,872,250, an increase of 18,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,853,500.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 486,033 in the week ending January 4, an increase of 34,384 from the previous week. There were 557,724 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent during the week ending December 28, an increase of 0.3 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,295,112, an increase of 451,828 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.9 percent and the volume was 3,730,220.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending December 21 was 4,193,749, a decrease of 265,067 from the previous week. There were 5,356,419 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 21.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,199 in the week ending December 28, a decrease of 669 from the prior week. There were 1,208 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 789 from the preceding week.

There were 20,705 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending December 21, a decrease of 2,003 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 28,567, a decrease of 3,430 from the prior week.

States reported 1,287,037 persons claiming Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits for the week ending December 21, a decrease of 104,260 from the prior week. There were 1,991,454 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 (5.3), Pennsylvania (3.4), New Jersey (3.3), Connecticut (3.2), Illinois (3.1), Montana (3.0), Puerto Rico (2.9), Wisconsin (2.9), California (2.8), Nevada (2.8), Oregon (2.8), and Rhode Island (2.8).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 28 were in Michigan (+16,056), Pennsylvania (+10,601), New Jersey (+7,345), Ohio (+7,036), and Iowa (+5,369), while the largest decreases were in California (-14,635), Texas (-6,723), Florida (-3,738), North Carolina (-2,694), and South Carolina (-2,184).

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 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 28, 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