<H3>• U.S. Initial Unemployment [Jobless] Claims Up 28kk </H3>

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In the week ending March 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 385,000, an increase of 28,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 357,000 and 4.6% above the number for the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 354,250, an increase of 11,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 343,000: The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate* was 2.4 percent for the week ending March 23, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 16 were in Alaska (5.7), Puerto Rico (4.4), New Jersey (4.0), Rhode Island (4.0), Pennsylvania (3.9), Connecticut (3.8), Montana (3.8), Wisconsin (3.7), California (3.6), and Massachusetts (3.6). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 23 were in California (+8,712), Texas (+2,736), Kansas (+1,611), Arkansas (+1,542), and Pennsylvania (+1,448), while the largest decreases were in Virginia (-1,117), Massachusetts (-804), South Carolina (-602), Puerto Rico (-529), and North Carolina (-503). Click on chart to enlarge *Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. Source: USDOL-BLS

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