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• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Down 12K In the week ending June 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 377,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 389,000 and down 11.3% from the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 377,750, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average of 376,000. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending May 26, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending May 19 were in Alaska (4.6), Puerto Rico (3.8), Pennsylvania (3.5), California (3.4), New Jersey (3.3), Connecticut (3.2), Oregon (3.2), Illinois (3.0), Nevada (3.0), Rhode Island (2.9), and Virgin Islands (2.9). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 26 were in Georgia (+2,078), Tennessee (+1,983), Missouri (+1,898), Illinois (+1,798), and New York (+1,578), while the largest decreases were in Texas (-376), North Carolina (-371), California (-344), Pennsylvania (-291), and Virginia (-275). Click on chart to enlarge: Note: “Insured rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL-BLS

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