Note: This week's release reflects the annual revision to the weekly unemployment claims seasonal adjustment factors. The historical factors from 2002 forward have been revised. See attachment for calendar year 2007 factors.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending March 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 308,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 318,000. The 4-week moving average was 316,750, a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week's revised average of 324,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent for the week ending March 17, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 1.9 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 17 was 2,527,000, an increase of 32,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,495,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,531,250, a decrease of 24,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,555,500.  

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 271,379 in the week ending March 24, a decrease of 5,655 from the previous week. There were 265,370 initial claims in the comparable week in 2006.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent during the week ending March 17, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,837,847, a decrease of 31,951 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.1 percent and the volume was 2,750,543.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending March 10.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 847 in the week ending March 17, a decrease of 208 from the prior week. There were 1,600 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 211 from the preceding week.

There were 14,420 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 10, a decrease of 3,917 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 23,710, a decrease of 339 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 10 were in Alaska (4.6 percent), Michigan (4.5), Wisconsin (3.7), Rhode Island (3.6), Pennsylvania (3.5), New Jersey (3.3), Massachusetts (3.2), Vermont (3.2), Illinois (3.0), and Puerto Rico (3.0).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 17 were in Mississippi (+4,191), Ohio (+2,631), Alabama (+549), Missouri (+186), and North Dakota (+73), while the largest decreases were in California (-4,079), Kentucky (-3,407), North Carolina (-2,585), Texas (-2,573), and Pennsylvania
(-1,948).

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 131,188,612 as denominator.

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 03/17/2007 

STATES WITH A DECREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

STATES WITH AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 1,000 

This information will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-693-4676. TDD Message Phone: 1-800-326-2577.  News releases from the U.S. Department of Labor are accessible on the Internet at: http://www.dol.gov/ and  http://www.ows.doleta.gov/     

Attachment: - Calendar Year 2007 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims