News Release

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending May 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 428,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 421,000. The 4-week moving average was 433,000, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week's revised average of 440,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.9 percent for the week ending May 10, unchanged from the prior week's revised rate of 2.9 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 10 was 3,699,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,735,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,683,250, an increase of 34,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,649,000.
 

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 357,445 in the week ending May 17, a decrease of 6,081 from the previous week. There were 348,887 initial claims in the comparable week in 2002.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7 percent during the week ending May 10, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,470,018, a decrease of 33,345 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.7 percent and the volume was 3,483,300.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington during the week ending May 3.

53 states reported that 830,037 individuals filed continued claims under the Federal Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program during the week ending May 3.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,144 in the week ending May 10, an increase of 181 from the prior week. There were 1,282 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 173 from the preceding week.

There were 14,678 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 3, an increase of 886 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 17,552, an increase of 163 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 3 were in Puerto Rico (6.5 percent), Alaska (5.6), Oregon (4.9), Washington (4.2), California (3.9), Pennsylvania (3.8), Idaho (3.7), Michigan (3.4), Massachusetts (3.3), and New Jersey (3.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 10 were in Virginia (+1,392), Michigan (+1,309), Maryland (+1,269), Florida(+1,195), and Kentucky (+1,060), while the largest decreases were in New York
(-9,638), South Carolina (-1,588), Georgia (-1,481), New Jersey (-1,438), and Iowa (-1,236).

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 126,632,357 as denominator.
³ - Prior year level based on the reports of 49 states.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 05/10/2003 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

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