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 Dec. 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 452,000, a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 480,000. The 4-week moving average was 465,250, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of 468,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.9 percent for the week ending Dec. 12, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.9 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Dec. 12 was 5,076,000, a decrease of 127,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5,203,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,233,000, a decrease of 90,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,323,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.673 million.  

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.1 percent during the week ending Dec. 12, an increase of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,385,774, an increase of 193,030 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.4 percent and the volume was 4,594,820.

Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, 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 Dec. 5.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,117 in the week ending Dec. 12, an increase of 26 from the prior week. There were 2,150 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 261 from the preceding week.

There were 26,320 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Dec. 5, an increase of 142 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,224, a decrease of 784 from the prior week.

States reported 4,368,107 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Dec. 5, an increase of 141,807 from the prior week. There were 1,482,317 claimants in the comparable week in 2008. EUC weekly claims include first, second, and third tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Dec. 5 were in Puerto Rico (6.4 percent), Oregon (5.9), Pennsylvania (5.6), Wisconsin (5.6), Alaska (5.4), Washington (5.2), Idaho (5.1), Nevada (5.1), California (4.9), Michigan (4.9), and North Carolina (4.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Dec. 12 were in Puerto Rico (+1,260), Louisiana (+1,123), Nebraska (+941), Maine (+728), and the District of Columbia (+696), while the largest decreases were in North Carolina (-14,374), Pennsylvania (-14,302), New York (-13,432), Georgia (-11,142), and Wisconsin (-10,650).

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 12/12/2009 

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/