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

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 22 was 2,462,000, an increase of 21,000 from the preceding week''s revised level of 2,441,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,437,750, an increase of 7,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,430,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 77,058 in the week ending April 29, a decrease of 14,914 from the previous week. There were 90,824 initial claims in the comparable week in 2005.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent during the week ending April 22, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,425,101, a decrease of 57,827 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.0 percent and the volume was 2,564,797.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending April 15.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 959 in the week ending April 22, an increase of 61 from the prior week. There were 1,618 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 24 from the preceding week.

There were 14,025 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 15, an increase of 691 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 26,762, an increase of 499 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 15 were in Puerto Rico (4.8 percent), Alaska (4.7), Michigan (4.0), Pennsylvania (2.9), New Jersey (2.8), Wisconsin (2.7), Vermont (2.6), Oregon (2.6), California (2.5), and Rhode Island (2.5).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 22 were in New York (+7,442), Massachusetts (+4,547), Connecticut (+4,546), New Jersey (+2,538), and North Carolina (+1,962), while the largest decreases were in Michigan (-2,193), Pennsylvania (-1,254), Illinois (-1,209), Maryland (-1,014), and Georgia (-940).

Available at:
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/eta20060759.htm