News Release

Note:  This week's release reflects the annual revision to the weekly unemployment claims seasonal adjustment factors. The historical factors from 1988 forward have been revised. See attachment for calendar year 2003 factors.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending April 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 405,000, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 443,000. The 4-week moving average was 419,500, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 423,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7 percent for the week ending March 29, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.8 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 29 was 3,487,000, a decrease of 69,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,556,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,513,000, an increase of 10,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,502,250.
 

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 387,317 in the week ending April 5, an increase of 16,185 from the previous week. There were 432,384 initial claims in the comparable week in 2002.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.1 percent during the week ending March 29, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,873,843, a decrease of 69,611 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.2 percent and the volume was 4,061,959.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington during the week ending March 22.

53 states reported that 802,004 individuals filed continued claims under the Federal Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program during the week ending March 22.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 982 in the week ending March 29, an increase of 64 from the prior week. There were 1,167 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 13 from the preceding week.

There were 17,311 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 22, an increase of 595 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 19,409, an increase of 273 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 22 were in Alaska (6.5 percent), Oregon (4.9), Idaho (4.7), Puerto Rico (4.7), Michigan (4.4), Washington (4.4), Wisconsin (4.4), Pennsylvania (4.3), Massachusetts (4.1), and California (4.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 29 were in North Carolina (+3,725), Michigan (+3,217), Kentucky (+2,957), Oregon (+2,268), and Colorado (+2,012), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-1,943), Illinois (-1,619), California (-1,510), Kansas (-1,230), and Massachusetts (-523).

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 126,949,730 as denominator.
³ - Prior year level based on the reports of 39 states.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 03/29/2003 

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.ows.doleta.gov

Attachment: - Calendar Year 2003 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims