In the week ending December 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 319,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 314,000. The 4-week moving average was 314,750, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 318,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent for the week ending December 6, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 1.9 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 6 was 2,245,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,254,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,247,000, an increase of 6,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,240,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 373,234 in the week ending December 13, a decrease of 29,294 from the previous week. There were 404,485 initial claims in the comparable week in 1996.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent during the week ending December 6, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,202,627, a decrease of 112,257 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was 2,458,806.

Extended benefits were available in Puerto Rico during the week ending November 29.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 2,280 in the week ending December6, an increase of 344 from the prior week. There were 1,795 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 664 from the preceding week.

There were 27,192 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending November 29, an increase of 2,430 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 19,009, an increase of 3,335 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 29 were in Puerto Rico (6.2 percent), Alaska (5.6), California (3.4), Washington (3.4), Arkansas (3.2), Oregon (3.1), Rhode Island (3.1), West Virginia (3.0), Pennsylvania (2.9), and Idaho (2.7).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 6 were in North Carolina (+14,785), Pennsylvania (+11,726), Tennessee (+6,966), New York (+6,363), and California (+5,917), while the largest decreases were in Wisconsin (—5,365), Texas (—3,876), Ohio (—3,748), Oregon (—877), and Louisiana (—843).

December 18, 1997 U.S. Department of Labor

Consensus National Futures and Financial On Line Index

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