UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Oct. 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 308,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 300,000. The 4-week moving average was 305,250, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of 308,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent for the week ending Oct.14, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 1.9 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Oct. 14 was 2,449,000, an increase of 3,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,446,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,440,750, an increase of 4,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,436,750. 

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 290,497 in the week ending Oct. 21, an increase of 19,410 from the previous week. There were 304,733 initial claims in the comparable week in 2005.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent during the week ending Oct. 14, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,122,889, an increase of 92,565 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.9 percent and the volume was 2,437,294.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Oct. 7.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,168 in the week ending Oct. 14, a decrease of 1,101 from the prior week. There were 1,787 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 530 from the preceding week.

There were 14,708 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Oct. 7, a decrease of 170 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 24,943, an increase of 181 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Oct. 7 were in Puerto Rico (3.2 percent), Alaska (2.8), Michigan (2.8), New Jersey (2.3), Arkansas (2.2), Pennsylvania (2.2), Connecticut (2.0), Massachusetts (2.0), Oregon (2.0), and South Carolina (2.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Oct. 14 were in Michigan (+3,243), South Carolina (+509), North Dakota (+191), Vermont (+34), and Wyoming (+29), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-4,087), Kentucky (-3,382), Illinois (-2,220), Florida (-2,145), and Ohio (-1,933).

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 130,605,286 as denominator.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 10/14/2006 

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