The following is the unedited transcript of the news release from the U.S. Department of Labor.


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending May 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 623,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 636,000. The 4-week moving average was 626,750, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week''s revised average of 629,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.1 percent for the week ending May 16, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week''s unrevised rate of 5.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 16 was 6,788,000, an increase of 110,000 from the preceding week''s revised level of 6,678,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,608,250, an increase of 123,750 from the preceding week''s revised average of 6,484,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.131 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 536,733 in the week ending May 23, a decrease of 4,192 from the previous week. There were 326,518 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.6 percent during the week ending May 16, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 6,191,044, a decrease of 12,619 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.1 percent and the volume was 2,807,628.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin during the week ending May 9.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,417 in the week ending May 16, an increase of 243 from the prior week. There were 1,777 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 26 from the preceding week.

There were 15,811 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending May 9, a decrease of 57 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 28,254, a decrease of 288 from the prior week.

States reported 2,185,863 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending May 9, a decrease of 82,504 from the prior week. EUC weekly claims include both first and second tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 9 were in Oregon (7.3 percent), Michigan (7.1), Nevada (6.4), Pennsylvania (6.4), Puerto Rico (6.2), Wisconsin (6.0), Idaho (5.7), California (5.5), North Carolina (5.5), and Illinois (5.4).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 16 were in California (+5,447), North Carolina (+2,693), Georgia (+1,595), Washington (+764), and Florida (+528), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-9,758), Kentucky (-4,323), Illinois (-3,425), Indiana (-3,081), and Ohio (-2,522).


Available at:

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm