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


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Jan. 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 307,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 327,000. The 4-week moving average was 304,750, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week''s unrevised average of 309,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9% for the week ending Jan. 20, unchanged from the last week unrevised rate of 1.9%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Jan. 20 was 2,553,000, an increase of 71,000 from the preceding week''s revised level of 2,482,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,482,750, an increase of 30,500 from the preceding week''s revised average of 2,452,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 359,752 in the week ending Jan. 27, a decrease of 7,787 from the previous week. There were 318,805 initial claims in the comparable week in 2006.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent during the week ending Jan. 20, an increase of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,115,065, an increase of 189,084 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.4 percent and the volume was 3,051,709.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Jan. 13.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,413 in the week ending Jan. 20, a decrease of 1,304 from the prior week. There were 1,772 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 360 from the preceding week.

There were 17,538 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Jan. 13, a decrease of 3,832 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 25,505, a decrease of 1,287 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Jan. 13 were in Alaska (4.6 percent), Michigan (4.2), Wisconsin (3.6), Pennsylvania (3.5), Puerto Rico (3.4), Massachusetts (3.2), New Jersey (3.2), Rhode Island (3.2), Oregon (3.1), and Vermont (3.1).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Jan. 20 were in Kansas (+1,088), and Washington (+658), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-12,200), Michigan (-11,275), Tennessee (-11,126), California (-10,996), and New Jersey (-7,440).


Available at:

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