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

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Oct. 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 461,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week\''s revised figure of 477,000. It is estimated that the effects of Hurricane Ike in Texas added approximately 12,000 claims to the total. The 4-week moving average was 483,250, an increase of 750 from the previous week\''s unrevised average of 482,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.8 percent for the week ending Oct. 4, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week\''s unrevised rate of 2.7 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Oct. 4 was 3,711,000, an increase of 40,000 from the preceding week\''s revised level of 3,671,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,632,000, an increase of 65,750 from the preceding week\''s revised average of 3,566,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 451,776 in the week ending Oct. 11, an increase of 28,052 from the previous week. There were 306,519 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent during the week ending Oct. 4, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,061,651, an increase of 3,666 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.6 percent and the volume was 2,097,457.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska and Rhode Island during the week ending Sept. 27.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,642 in the week ending Oct. 4, an increase of 541 from the prior week. There were 1,850 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 167 from the preceding week.

There were 13,422 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Sept. 27, an increase of 97 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 22,744, an increase of 574 from the prior week.

States reported 1,345,375 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Sept. 27, an increase of 278,298 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Sept. 27 were in Puerto Rico (5.3 percent), California (3.2), Michigan (3.2), Nevada (3.2), Oregon (3.2), New Jersey (3.1), South Carolina (3.0), Pennsylvania (2.9), the Virgin Islands (2.8), Arkansas (2.7), North Carolina (2.7), and Rhode Island (2.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Oct. 4 were in Ohio (+7,217), California (+6,003), Michigan (+5,661), Florida (+4,253), and Alabama (+3,471), while the largest decreases were in Texas (-21,249), Louisiana (-5,461), Mississippi (-1,108), Washington (-809), and Kentucky (-525).

Available at:

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