News Release
U.S. Department of Labor Office of Public Affairs Washington, D.C.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Oct. 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 514,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 524,000. The 4-week moving average was 531,500, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised average of 540,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.5 percent for the week ending Oct. 3, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 4.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Oct. 3 was 5,992,000, a decrease of 75,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6,067,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,082,750, a decrease of 68,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,151,000.  

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.7 percent during the week ending Oct. 3, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,919,556, a decrease of 97,504 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.3 percent and the volume was 3,073,515.

Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin during the week ending Sept. 26.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,891 in the week ending Oct. 3, an increase of 392 from the prior week. There were 2,498 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 112 from the preceding week.

There were 20,671 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Sept. 26, an increase of 1,148 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 31,840, an increase of 1,290 from the prior week.

States reported 3,331,275 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Sept. 26, an increase of 10,065 from the prior week. There were 1,505,423 claimants in the comparable week in 2008. EUC weekly claims include both first and second tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Sept. 26 were in Puerto Rico (7.1 percent), Oregon (5.3), Nevada (5.2), Pennsylvania (5.0), California (4.7), Michigan (4.6), North Carolina (4.6), Wisconsin (4.6), Arkansas (4.5), and South Carolina (4.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Oct. 3 were in Pennsylvania (+3,618), Washington (+1,857), Wisconsin (+1,629), Missouri (+1,441), and Texas (+1,291), while the largest decreases were in Florida (-5,178), California (-3,911), Tennessee (-683), Illinois (-682), and Arkansas (-589).

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 10/03/2009 

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/