The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims the week of February 18, 2012, totaled 351,000, unchanged from a revised estimate of 351,000 the week of February 11, 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The seasonally adjusted four-week moving average dropped slightly, decreasing by 7,000 from a revised 366,000 to 359,000
Insured Unemployment Figures Also Steady
Looking at seasonally adjusted unemployment figures, the advance seasonally adjusted unemployment rate the week of February 18 was 2.7%, also unchanged from the prior week. Meanwhile, the advance seasonally adjusted total number of insured unemployed people declined about 1%, from 3.44 million to 3.39 million. The four-week moving average also decreased about 1%, from about 3.5 million to 3.45 million.
Actual Claims Fall
The actual (unadjusted) number of initial unemployment claims the week of February 18 was a slightly lower 345,216, a decrease of 19,888 from the previous week’s figure of 365,104. The advance unadjusted unemployment rate the week of January 28, 2012 was 3.1%, up slightly from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.1%.
Fewer Federal Employees, Vets File Initial Claims
A total of 1,383 former federal civilian employees filed initial unemployment claims the week of February 11, a 12% decline from 1,578 the prior week. And in a shift from the trend of the past few weeks, there were 2,520 initial claims from newly discharged veterans, a 10% drop from 2,723 the week before.
California Changes Pace in Initial Claims
California has led all states in the number of initial claims for the past few weeks tracked by the Department of Labor. However, for the week ending February 11, California has the highest number of decreases (-8,462). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 11 were in Massachusetts (+853), Puerto Rico (+352), Nebraska ( +345), Hawaii (+ 85), and Rhode Island (+69), while the largest decreases besides California occurred in Pennsylvania (-3,789), New York (-2,429), North Carolina (-2,199), and South Carolina (-1,538).
Source: US Department of Labor
