UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending May 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 350,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 325,000. The 4-week moving average was 334,500, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 331,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending May 21, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 21 was 2,602,000, an increase of 32,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,570,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,591,000, an increase of 4,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,586,250.
 

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 303,031 in the week ending May 28, an increase of 25,534 from the previous week. There were 304,067 initial claims in the comparable week in 2004.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent during the week ending May 21, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,370,458, a decrease of 27,707 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.1 percent and the volume was 2,702,892.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska during the week ending May 14.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,037 in the week ending May 21, an increase of 161 from the prior week. There were 1,902 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 61 from the preceding week.

There were 12,674 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 14, an increase of 144 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 27,217, an increase of 458 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 14 were in Puerto Rico (4.6 percent), Alaska (4.4), Oregon (2.9), Michigan (2.8), New Jersey (2.7), Pennsylvania (2.7), California (2.5), Arkansas (2.3), Massachusetts (2.3), and Wisconsin (2.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 21 were in Missouri (+2,031), Texas (+1,712), Massachusetts (+1,528), Arkansas (+1,009), and Arizona (+572), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-2,075), Ohio (-1,306), North Carolina (-1,157), New York (-1,127), and Tennessee (-774).

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 127,095,859 as denominator.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 05/21/2005 

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