<H3>• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 04 January 2014 </H3>

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In the week ending January 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 330,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 345,000. The 4-week moving average was 349,000, a decrease of 9,750 from the previous week's revised average of 358,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent for the week ending December 28, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 21 were in Alaska (5.3), Pennsylvania (3.4), New Jersey (3.3), Connecticut (3.2), Illinois (3.1), Montana (3.0), Puerto Rico (2.9), Wisconsin (2.9), California (2.8), Nevada (2.8), Oregon (2.8), and Rhode Island (2.8). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 28 were in Michigan (+16,056), Pennsylvania (+10,601), New Jersey (+7,345), Ohio (+7,036), and Iowa (+5,369), while the largest decreases were in California (-14,635), Texas (-6,723), Florida (-3,738), North Carolina (-2,694), and South Carolina (-2,184). Click on chart to enlarge Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS

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