In the week ending September 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 306,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 311,000. The 4-week moving average was 316,250, a decrease of 8,250 from the previous week's revised average of 324,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending September 6, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 6 was 2,273,000 a decrease of 61,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,334,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,305,750, a decrease of 4,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,309,750.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 252,187 in the week ending September 13, an increase of 27,903 from the previous week. There were 272,472 initial claims in the comparable week in 1996.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent during the week ending September 6, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 1,965,743, an increase of 37,888 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.9 percent and the volume was 2,105,993.

Extended benefits were available in Puerto Rico during the week ending August 30.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,692 in the week ending September 6, an increase of 63 from the prior week. There were 1,665 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 187 from the preceding week.

There were 21,394 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending August 30, a decrease of 11 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 18,137, a decrease of 611 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 30 were in Puerto Rico (6.1 percent), Rhode Island (3.3), Alaska (3.0), Hawaii (2.7), New Jersey (2.6), California (2.5), Pennsylvania (2.5), Washington (2.4), Dist. of Col. (2.3), New York (2.2), and Oregon (2.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending September 6 were in Texas (+552), Tennessee (+388), Massachusetts (+293), Nebraska (+179), and Hawaii (+178), while the largest decreases were in Illinois (—3,595), California (—3,586), Pennsylvania (—2,593), New York (—2,421), and Missouri (—1,892).

September 18, 1997 U.S. Department of Labor

Consensus National Futures and Financial On Line Index

Added to the WWW 09-19-97
Last updated on 09-20-97

Hosted by:
One Crossroads Place
610 West Maple Ave, Suite WWW
Independence, MO 64050
(816) 252-4080
sysop@kcmo.com

wmeubank@ocp.kcmo.com