The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims the week of February 11, 2012, totaled 348,000, a decrease of 13,000 from a revised estimate of 361,000 the week of February 4, 2012. This marked the lowest weekly level of initial unemployment claims since March 2008. The seasonally adjusted four-week moving average also showed a mild decline, dropping from 1,750 from a revised estimate of 367,00 to 365,250.

Insured Unemployment Figures Also Decline

Looking at seasonally adjusted unemployment figures, the advance seasonally adjusted unemployment rate the week of February 4 was 2.7%, a fractional decrease from 2.8% the week of January 28, 2012. In addition, the advance seasonally adjusted total number of insured unemployed people dropped about 3%, from 3.526 million to 3.426 million. The four-week moving average decreased fractionally from a revised 3.5 million to 3.492 million.

More File Actual Claims, But Total Drops More

The actual (unadjusted) number of initial unemployment claims the week of February 11, 2012 was a slightly higher 397,810. However, there was also a larger drop of 39,328 from the previous week’s unadjusted total of 422,287. The advance unadjusted unemployment rate the week of January 28, 2012 was 3.2%, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate.

Fewer Federal Employees, More Vets File Initial Claims

A total of 1,696 former federal civilian employees filed initial unemployment claims the week of January 28, a roughly 3% drop from 2,172 the prior week. However, there were 2,843 initial claims from newly discharged veterans, a 16% jump from 2,448 the previous week.

California Sees Highest Initial Claims Growth

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 28 were in California (+4,571), Washington (+2,795), Florida (+2,293), Texas (+1,485), and Oregon (+1,420), while the largest decreases were in Tennessee (-1,855), Connecticut (-1,523), Oklahoma (-1,353), Alabama (-1,297), and North Carolina (-1,221).

Source: US Department of Labor