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


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending July 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 366,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 348,000. The 4-week moving average was 376,500, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week''s revised average of 381,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending July 5, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week''s unrevised rate of 2.4 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 5 was 3,122,000, a decrease of 81,000 from the preceding week''s revised level of 3,203,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,142,750, an increase of 16,500 from the preceding week''s revised average of 3,126,250.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 2.934 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 475,954 in the week ending July 12, an increase of 74,349 from the previous week. There were 383,839 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent during the week ending July 5, an increase of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,125,165, an increase of 267,660 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.0 percent and the volume was 2,581,098.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska during the week ending June 28.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,394 in the week ending July 5, a decrease of 29 from the prior week. There were 1,362 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 251 from the preceding week.

There were 11,460 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending June 28, a decrease of 260 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 19,021, a decrease of 196 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending June 28 were in Puerto Rico (4.9 percent), Pennsylvania (3.2), Rhode Island (3.2), New Jersey (3.1), Alaska (3.0), Oregon (3.0), Michigan (2.9), California (2.8), Connecticut (2.8), Massachusetts (2.8), and Nevada (2.8).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 5 were in Michigan (+20,085), Ohio (+6,993), Wisconsin (+5,854), New York (+5,715), and Indiana (+3,711), while the largest decreases were in New Jersey (-5,765), California (-4,578), Massachusetts (-3,668), Texas (-2,356), and Florida (-1,762).


Available at:

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