Jobless claims - 8:30

Full report here UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Dec. 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 432,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 454,000. The 4-week moving average was 460,250, a decrease of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average of 465,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.8 percent for the week ending Dec. 19, unchanged from the prior week's revised rate of 3.8 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Dec. 19 was 4,981,000, a decrease of 57,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5,038,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,101,000, a decrease of 122,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,223,250. The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.621 million. UNADJUSTED DATA The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 557,155 in the week ending Dec. 26, a decrease of 8,088 from the previous week. There were 717,000 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.9 percent during the week ending Dec. 19, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 5,090,652, a decrease of 254,815 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 3.4 percent and the volume was 4,572,637. 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 Dec. 12. Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,756 in the week ending Dec. 19, a decrease of 390 from the prior week. There were 2,274 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 123 from the preceding week. There were 26,422 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Dec. 12, a decrease of 49 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 37,526, an increase of 1,378 from the prior week. States reported 4,448,914 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Dec. 12, an increase of 191,669 from the prior week. There were 1,567,930 claimants in the comparable week in 2008. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Dec. 12 were in Alaska (7.4 percent), Oregon (6.1), Puerto Rico (5.8), Wisconsin (5.6), Michigan (5.5), Idaho (5.4), Montana (5.4), Nevada (5.4), Pennsylvania (5.4), and California (5.3). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Dec. 19 were in Michigan (+8,382), California (+7,317), Florida (+3,179), Iowa (+2,820), and Missouri (+1,628), while the largest decreases were in Tennessee (-2,972), Illinois (-2,923), Pennsylvania (-2,875), Georgia (-2,684), and North Carolina (-1,771). More at link with formatted tables

---

NOTE:See the red box? That is not reported, but very significant. That figure represents Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or in other words, people on extended benefits or some other form of aid that would have previously ran out if not for government extensions. That number by the way, is the HIGHEST in history. Green shoots? I think not.