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


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending April 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 631,000, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 645,000. The 4-week moving average was 637,250, a decrease of 10,750 from the previous week''s revised average of 648,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.7 percent for the week ending April 18, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week''s unrevised rate of 4.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 18 was 6,271,000, an increase of 133,000 from the preceding week''s revised level of 6,138,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,076,000, an increase of 131,500 from the preceding week''s revised average of 5,944,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 4.894 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 576,605 in the week ending April 25, a decrease of 19,959 from the previous week. There were 337,858 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.7 percent during the week ending April 18, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 6,277,186, a decrease of 130,405 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was 2,987,428.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin during the week ending April 11.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,052 in the week ending April 18, a decrease of 169 from the prior week. There were 1,752 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 95 from the preceding week.

There were 17,589 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 11, an increase of 486 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 28,594, an increase of 56 from the prior week.

States reported 2,364,774 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 11, an increase of 216,533 from the prior week. EUC weekly claims include both first and second tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 11 were in Michigan (8.0 percent), Oregon (7.7), Pennsylvania (6.7), Wisconsin (6.7), Idaho (6.6), Nevada (6.3), Vermont (6.0), Rhode Island (5.9), Alaska (5.8), Illinois (5.7), and New Jersey (5.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 18 were in California (+8,535), New York (+6,959), Connecticut (+3,086), Georgia (+3,056), and North Carolina (+2,983), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-7,799), Florida (-7,208), Illinois (-3,803), Ohio (-3,310), and Washington (-2,432).


Available at:

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