Jobless claims - 8:30

Full report here SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Dec. 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 474,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 457,000. The 4-week moving average was 473,750, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week's revised average of 481,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.9 percent for the week ending Nov. 28, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.1 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Nov. 28 was 5,157,000, a decrease of 303,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5,460,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,416,500, a decrease of 123,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,540,000. The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.767 million. UNADJUSTED DATA The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 664,865 in the week ending Dec. 5, an increase of 204,703 from the previous week. There were 759,531 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.1 percent during the week ending Nov. 28, an increase of 0.5 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,373,871, an increase of 591,085 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.4 percent and the volume was 4,493,526. Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin during the week ending Nov. 21. Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,780 in the week ending Nov. 28, a decrease of 488 from the prior week. There were 1,372 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 963 from the preceding week. There were 23,344 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Nov. 21, a decrease of 1,177 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 33,605, a decrease of 2,753 from the prior week. States reported 4,178,780 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Nov. 21, an increase of 327,729 from the prior week. There were 729,256 claimants in the comparable week in 2008. EUC weekly claims include first, second, and third tier activity. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Nov. 21 were in Puerto Rico (6.1 percent), Oregon (5.6), Alaska (5.5), Nevada (5.1), Wisconsin (4.9), Washington (4.8), Michigan (4.7), Pennsylvania (4.7), Arkansas (4.5), Idaho (4.5), and North Carolina (4.5). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Nov. 28 were in Wisconsin (+8,067), Kansas (+3,825), Missouri (+3,307), Iowa (+2,789), and Indiana (+2,162), while the largest decreases were in California (-28,672), Texas (-9,519), North Carolina (-8,873), Florida (-7,214), and Illinois (-6,610). More at link with formatted tables