<H3>• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 18 January 2014 </H3>

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In the week ending January 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 326,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 325,000 but down 5.0% from the same week a year ago. The 4-week moving average was 331,500, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 335,250. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending January 11, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending January 11 were in Alaska (5.8), Puerto Rico (4.9), Pennsylvania (4.5), Connecticut (4.4), New Jersey (4.4), Michigan (3.8), Montana (3.8), Wisconsin (3.8), Rhode Island (3.6), California (3.5), Illinois (3.5), and Massachusetts (3.5). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 11 were in Texas (+12,800), California (+8,319), Pennsylvania (+7,107), Indiana (+6,622), and Florida (+5,790), while the largest decreases were in New York (-18,019), Georgia (-7,278), Alabama (-2,639), Wisconsin (-2,577), and South Carolina (-1,810). 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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