UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Aug. 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 319,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 312,000. The 4-week moving average was 308,750, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 312,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent for the week ending July 29, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 1.9 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 29 was 2,480,000, an increase of 48,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,432,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,468,750, an increase of 15,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,453,750.  

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 273,071 in the week ending Aug. 5, an increase of 13,471 from the previous week. There were 269,746 initial claims in the comparable week in 2005.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent during the week ending July 29, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,373,554, an increase of 14,745 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.9 percent and the volume was 2,467,095.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending July 22.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,256 in the week ending July 29, a decrease of 141 from the prior week. There were 2,047 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 223 from the preceding week.

There were 14,833 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending July 22, a decrease of 107 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 26,029, an increase of 333 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending July 22 were in Michigan (3.6 percent), New Jersey (3.0), Alaska (2.9), Pennsylvania (2.9), Rhode Island (2.7), Connecticut (2.5), Arkansas (2.4), Massachusetts (2.4), Oregon (2.3), and Wisconsin (2.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 29 were in California (+3,569), Missouri (+3,110), Wisconsin (+748), Texas (+746), and Virginia (+574), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-6,917), Tennessee (-4,741), North Carolina (-4,162), Puerto Rico (-3,255), and South Carolina (-2,595).

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 129,945,159 as denominator.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 07/29/2006 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

State Detail Prior Week
UI Claims Series 1967 to current