Washington, DC…In the week ending July 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 255,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 281,000. This is the lowest level for initial claims since November 24, 1973 when it was 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 278,500, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 282,500.

There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.6 percent for the week ending July 11, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending July 11 was 2,207,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 1,000 from 2,215,000 to 2,216,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,253,750, a decrease of 10,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 250 from 2,264,000 to 2,264,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 262,981 in the week ending July 18, a decrease of 81,382 (or -23.6 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 54,210 (or -15.7 percent) from the previous week. There were 287,049 initial claims in the comparable week in 2014.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent during the week ending July 11, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,244,838, an increase of 10,907 (or 0.5 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 19,946 (or 0.9 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.9 percent and the volume was 2,563,164.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending July 4 was 2,278,225, an increase of 96,355 from the previous week. There were 2,611,871 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2014.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending July 4.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,156 in the week ending July 11, an increase of 90 from the prior week. There were 1,496 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 83 from the preceding week.

There were 10,044 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending July 4, an increase of 535 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 17,762, a decrease of 259 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending July 4 were in Puerto Rico (3.7), New Jersey (3.0), Connecticut (2.7), Pennsylvania (2.6), Alaska (2.4), California (2.3), Nevada (2.3), Rhode Island (2.3), the Virgin Islands (2.2), and West Virginia (2.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending July 11 were in New York (+15,639), Pennsylvania (+5,659), Georgia (+4,075), Illinois (+3,890), and Tennessee (+3,681), while the largest decreases were in California (-6,999), Michigan (-5,035), Massachusetts (-3,722), New Jersey (-3,540), and Rhode Island (-