Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

WASHINGTON, June 19 -- The U.S. Department of Labor'sEmployment & Training Administration issued the following news release:

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending June 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 312,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 317,000 to 318,000. The 4-week moving average was 311,750, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 315,250 to 315,500.

There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent for the week ending June 7, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 7 was 2,561,000, a decrease of 54,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since October 13, 2007 when it was 2,541,000. The previous week's level was revised up 1,000 from 2,614,000 to 2,615,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,600,500, a decrease of 21,750 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since November 3, 2007 when it was 2,585,750. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 2,622,000 to 2,622,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 300,193 in the week ending June 14, a decrease of 13,178 (or -4.2 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 7,946 (or -2.5 percent) from the previous week. There were 336,970 initial claims in the comparable week in 2013.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent during the week ending June 7, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,389,634, a decrease of 34,500 (or -1.4 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 15,690 (or 0.6 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 2.1 percent and the volume was 2,772,541. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending May 31 was 2,479,463, an increase of 32,125 from the previous week. There were 4,526,072 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2013.

No state was triggered "on" the Extended Benefits program during the week ending May 31.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,255 in the week ending June 7, a decrease of 93 from the prior week. There were 1,972 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 437 from the preceding week. There were 12,105 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 31, an increase of 734 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 24,080, an increase of 361 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 31 were in Alaska (4.1), Puerto Rico (3.3), New Jersey (2.9), California (2.8), Connecticut (2.8), Pennsylvania (2.7), Nevada (2.6), Illinois (2.4), Massachusetts (2.2), West Virginia (2.2), Maryland (2.1), and New Mexico (2.1).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 7 were in California (+9,935), Florida (+4,050), Illinois (+3,248), Georgia (+2,997), and Pennsylvania (+2,909), while the largest decreases were in New Mexico (-332), Nebraska (-162), Alaska (-109), Kansas (-49), and North Dakota (-30).

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DATA FOR REGULAR STATE PROGRAMS

Click here (http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/press/2014/061914.pdf) to view table

Figures Appearing In columns showing Over-The-Week Changes reflect all revisions in data for prior week submitted by State agencies.

1. The Unemployment Compensation program for Federal Employees (UCFE) and the Unemployment Compensation for Ex-servicemembers (UCX) exclude claims filed jointly under other programs to avoid duplication.

2. Rate is not seasonally adjusted. The source of US total covered employment is BLS.

TECHNICAL NOTES

This news release presents the weekly unemployment insurance (UI) claims reported by each state's unemployment insurance program offices. These claims may be used for monitoring workload volume, assessing state program operations and for assessing labor market conditions. States initially report claims directly taken by the state liable for the benefit payments, regardless of where the claimant who filed the claim resided. These are the basis for the advance initial claims and continued claims reported each week. These data come from ETA 538, Advance Weekly Initial and Continued Claims Report. The following week initial claims and continued claims are revised based on a second reporting by states that reflect the claimants by state of residence. These data come from the ETA 539, Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data Report.

A. Initial Claims

An initial claim is a claim filed by an unemployed individual after a separation from an employer. The claimant requests a determination of basic eligibility for the UI program. When an initial claim is filed with a state, certain programmatic activities take place and these result in activity counts including the count of initial claims.

The count of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance is a leading economic indicator because it is an indication of emerging labor market conditions in the country. However, these are weekly administrative data which are difficult to seasonally adjust, making the series subject to some volatility.

B. Continued Weeks Claimed

A person who has already filed an initial claim and who has experienced a week of unemployment then files a continued claim to claim benefits for that week of unemployment. Continued claims are also referred to as insured unemployment.

The count of U.S. continued weeks claimed is also a good indicator of labor market conditions. Continued claims reflect the current number of insured unemployed workers filing for UI benefits in the nation. While continued claims are not a leading indicator (they roughly coincide with economic cycles at their peaks and lag at cycle troughs), they provide confirming evidence of the direction of the U.S. economy.

C. Seasonal Adjustments and Annual Revisions

Over the course of a year, the weekly changes in the levels of initial claims and continued claims undergo regularly occurring fluctuations. These fluctuations may result from seasonal changes in weather, major holidays, the opening and closing of schools, or other similar events. Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each year, their influence on the level of a series can be tempered by adjusting for regular seasonal variation. These adjustments make trend and cycle developments easier to spot.

At the beginning of each calendar year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) with a set of seasonal factors to apply to the unadjusted data during that year. Concurrent with the implementation and release of the new seasonal factors, ETA incorporates revisions to the UI claims historical series caused by updates to the unadjusted data.

Weekly Claims Archives Weekly Claims Data

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The Departments Reasonable Accommodation Resource Center converts Departmental information and documents into alternative formats, which include Braille and large print. For alternative format requests, please contact the Department at (202) 693-7828 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (federal relay).

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