<H3>• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims – 15 February 2014 </H3>

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In the week ending February 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 336,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 339,000. The 4-week moving average was 338,500, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 336,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending February 8, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 1 were in Alaska (5.8), Pennsylvania (4.2), Rhode Island (4.0), Connecticut (3.9), New Jersey (3.9), Wisconsin (3.8), California (3.7), Montana (3.7), Illinois (3.6), Puerto Rico (3.5), West Virginia (3.5), and Massachusetts (3.4). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 8 were in Georgia (+7,229), North Carolina (+1,347), South Carolina (+1,292), Alabama (+1,191), and California (+1,145), while the largest decreases were in New York (-2,721), Ohio (-2,348), New Jersey (-2,035), Connecticut (-1,149), and New Hampshire (-1,146). 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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