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. 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 301,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 302,000. The 4-week moving average was 314,750, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week''s revised average of 328,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending Jan. 12, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week''s unrevised rate of 2.1 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Jan. 12 was 2,672,000, a decrease of 75,000 from the preceding week''s revised level of 2,747,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,715,250, a decrease of 10,250 from the preceding week''s revised average of 2,725,500.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 408,333 in the week ending Jan. 19, a decrease of 141,509 from the previous week. There were 367,583 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent during the week ending Jan. 12, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,276,089, a decrease of 231,990 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was 2,925,963.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Jan. 5.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,250 in the week ending Jan. 12, an increase of 658 from the prior week. There were 1,775 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 425 from the preceding week.

There were 20,526 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Jan. 5, an increase of 2,742 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 24,955, an increase of 1,545 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Jan. 5 were in Michigan (5.1 percent), Alaska (4.5), Pennsylvania (4.3), Rhode Island (4.1), Wisconsin (4.1), Oregon (4.0), Idaho (3.7), New Jersey (3.6), California (3.4), and Massachusetts (3.4).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Jan. 12 were in California (+27,194), Florida (+8,496), Tennessee (+6,143), Puerto Rico (+4,138), and Texas (+3,793), while the largest decreases were in New York (-25,349), North Carolina (-4,911), Georgia (-4,858), Wisconsin (-3,364), and Massachusetts (-2,970).


Available at:

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