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 May 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 444,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 448,000. The 4-week moving average was 450,500, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised average of 459,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending May 1, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 1 was 4,627,000, an increase of 12,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,615,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,639,500, a decrease of 14,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,654,250.

The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.174 million. 

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent during the week ending May 1, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,515,632, a decrease of 140,708 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 4.6 percent and the volume was 6,191,149.

Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, 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 April 24.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,300 in the week ending May 1, an increase of 86 from the prior week. There were 2,289 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 97 from the preceding week.

There were 18,944 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 24, a decrease of 267 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,699, a decrease of 500 from the prior week.

States reported 5,137,385 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 24, a decrease of 216,874 from the prior week. There were 2,156,516 claimants in the comparable week in 2009. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 24 were in Alaska (6.6 percent), Puerto Rico (6.3), Oregon (5.8), Nevada (5.1), California (4.9), Pennsylvania (4.8), Wisconsin (4.8), Montana (4.7), North Carolina (4.6), Rhode Island (4.6), Connecticut (4.5), and Idaho (4.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 1 were in New York (+4,021), Kentucky (+1,015), Pennsylvania (+773), Illinois (+611), and Tennessee (+609), while the largest decreases were in California (-18,546), Massachusetts (-3,628), Indiana (-3,242), Michigan (-1,748), and Florida
(-1,291).

UNADJUSTED INITIAL CLAIMS FOR WEEK ENDED 05/01/2010 

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/