News Release
U.S. Department of Labor Office of Public Affairs Washington, D.C.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

          SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Oct. 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 521,000, a decrease of 33,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 554,000. The 4-week moving average was 539,750, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised average of 548,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.5 percent for the week ending Sept. 26, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Sept. 26 was 6,040,000, a decrease of 72,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6,112,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,144,250, a decrease of 15,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,160,000.  

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.677 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.8 percent during the week ending Sept. 26, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,994,971, a decrease of 77,884 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.3 percent and the volume was 3,057,698.

Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin during the week ending Sept. 19.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,499 in the week ending Sept. 26, an increase of 44 from the prior week. There were 2,387 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 91 from the preceding week.

There were 19,523 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Sept. 19, a decrease of 885 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 30,550, a decrease of 139 from the prior week.

States reported 3,321,210 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Sept. 19, an increase of 45,997 from the prior week. There were 1,140,558 claimants in the comparable week in 2008. EUC weekly claims include both first and second tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Sept. 19 were in Puerto Rico (6.1 percent), Oregon (5.3), Nevada (5.2), Pennsylvania (5.0), California (4.9), Michigan (4.8), Wisconsin (4.7), Arkansas (4.6), North Carolina (4.6), and South Carolina (4.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Sept. 26 were in California (+4,467), Ohio (+3,421), Illinois (+1,815), Missouri (+1,049), and Tennessee (+1,048), while the largest decreases were in New York (-2,253), North Carolina (-1,609), South Carolina (-1,159), Arkansas (-818), and Florida
(-734).

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 09/26/2009 

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/