News Release

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Aug. 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 398,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 396,000. The 4-week moving average was 394,250, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 398,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.9 percent for the week ending Aug. 2, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.9 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 2 was 3,657,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,663,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,630,250, an increase of 3,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,626,500.
 

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 343,235 in the week ending Aug. 9, an increase of 9,868 from the previous week. There were 332,673 initial claims in the comparable week in 2002.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7 percent during the week ending Aug. 2, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,444,989, a decrease of 67,918 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.6 percent and the volume was 3,309,272.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington during the week ending July 26.

53 states reported that 851,421 individuals filed continued claims under the Federal Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program during the week ending July 26.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,400 in the week ending Aug. 2, a decrease of 30 from the prior week. There were 1,471 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 92 from the preceding week.

There were 19,008 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending July 26, an increase of 1,173 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 17,789, an increase of 1,113 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending July 26 were in Puerto Rico (4.6 percent), Oregon (4.3), Alaska (4.1), Pennsylvania (3.9), Michigan (3.8), California (3.7), New Jersey (3.6), Washington (3.6), Connecticut (3.4), and Massachusetts (3.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Aug. 2 were in North Carolina (+1,983), South Carolina (+1,684), Virginia (+1,300), Pennsylvania (+1,071), and Washington (+838), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-7,476), Georgia (-5,872), Missouri (-3,053), Tennessee (-1,985), and Ohio (-1,708).

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 126,541,290 as denominator.
³ - Prior year level based on the reports of 51 states.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 08/02/2003 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000