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 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 406,000, an increase of 34,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 372,000. The 4-week moving average was 382,500, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week''s revised average of 378,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending July 12, unchanged from the prior week''s unrevised rate of 2.3 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 12 was 3,107,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the preceding week''s revised level of 3,116,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,134,250, a decrease of 7,000 from the preceding week''s revised average of 3,141,250.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 2.940 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 414,249 in the week ending July 19, a decrease of 70,056 from the previous week. There were 298,366 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent during the week ending July 12, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,174,895, an increase of 56,111 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.0 percent and the volume was 2,588,709.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska during the week ending July 5.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,774 in the week ending July 12, an increase of 372 from the prior week. There were 1,845 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 467 from the preceding week.

There were 12,610 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending July 5, an increase of 1,146 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 20,050, an increase of 1,055 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending July 5 were in Puerto Rico (4.8 percent), New Jersey (3.4), Oregon (3.4), Rhode Island (3.4), Michigan (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.3), California (3.1), Massachusetts (3.0), Connecticut (2.9), Nevada (2.9), South Carolina (2.9), and Wisconsin (2.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 12 were in New York (+13,909), California (+9,416), North Carolina (+9,344), Tennessee (+8,522), and Georgia (+7,000), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-4,571), New Jersey (-1,835), Kentucky (-1,724), Rhode Island (-1,266), and Massachusetts (-919).


Available at:

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