<H3>• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims — 20 December 2014 </H3>

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In the week ending December 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 280,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 289,000. The 4-week moving average was 290,250, a decrease of 8,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 298,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent for the week ending December 13, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 13 was 2,403,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised level. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 6 were in Alaska (4.2), Puerto Rico (3.1), New Jersey (3.0), Montana (2.7), Pennsylvania (2.7), Connecticut (2.6), Nevada (2.6), California (2.5), Massachusetts (2.4), and West Virginia (2.4). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 13 were in California (+11,794), Massachusetts (+443), Utah (+277), Rhode Island (+35), and Maine (+25), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-10,937), New York (-9,787), Wisconsin (-6,465), Georgia (-5,520), and Texas (-3,982). Note: “Insured unemployment rate” refers to individuals who are unemployed and receiving UC benefits. See the complete report at this link: USDOL-BLS NOTE: This report is provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in providing legal, financial, accounting or other professional advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Furthermore, while we do our best to ensure that these data are accurate, we suggest that any entity making decisions based on these numbers should verify the data at their source prior to making such decisions.

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