<H3>• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims Down 16k </H3> [Jobless]

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In the week ending April 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 339,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 355,000 and down 11.0% from the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 357,500, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average of 362,000. Click on chart to enlarge The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending April 13, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 6 were in Alaska (5.1), Puerto Rico (4.4), New Jersey (3.7), Pennsylvania (3.6), Wisconsin (3.5), California (3.4), Connecticut (3.4), Illinois (3.4), Oregon (3.2), and Rhode Island (3.2). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 13 were in California (+24,303), Texas (+3,050), Florida (+2,623), Indiana (+2,372), and Arizona (+1,296), while the largest decreases were in New York (-14,113), Michigan (-5,998), New Jersey (-4,204), Ohio (-3,036), and Illinois (-2,455). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL-BLS

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