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

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Jan. 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 283,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 272,000. The 4-week moving average was 288,750, a decrease of 10,750 from the previous week''s revised average of 299,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending Jan. 14, unchanged from the prior week''s unrevised rate of 2.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Jan. 14 was 2,581,000, an increase of 53,000 from the preceding week''s revised level of 2,528,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,623,000, a decrease of 31,000 from the preceding week''s revised average of 2,654,000.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 316,992 in the week ending Jan. 21, a decrease of 122,750 from the previous week. There were 360,582 initial claims in the comparable week in 2005.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent during the week ending Jan. 14, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,053,310, a decrease of 108,904 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.6 percent and the volume was 3,311,633.

Extended benefits were available in Louisiana during the week ending Jan. 7.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,971 in the week ending Jan. 14, a decrease of 431 from the prior week. There were 2,840 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 363 from the preceding week.

There were 22,857 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Jan. 7, an increase of 2,398 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 29,717, an increase of 1,324 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Jan. 7 were in Alaska (5.6 percent), Michigan (4.8), Puerto Rico (4.4), Mississippi (3.8), Pennsylvania (3.8), Wisconsin (3.7), Louisiana (3.4), New Jersey (3.4), Oregon (3.4), Idaho (3.3), and Rhode Island (3.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Jan. 14 were in Florida (+1,413), Puerto Rico (+1,187), Illinois (+672), Tennessee (+638), and Rhode Island (+551), while the largest decreases were in New York (-21,145), North Carolina (-11,474), Pennsylvania (-10,407), South Carolina (-8,089), and Georgia (-7,228).


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