<H3>• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims — 13 January 2015 </H3>

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In the week ending January 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 294,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 298,000. The 4-week moving average was 290,500, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 290,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent for the week ending December 27, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 27 was 2,452,000, an increase of 101,000 from the previous week's revised level. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 20 were in Alaska (4.3), New Jersey (3.0), Puerto Rico (3.0), Connecticut (2.7), Nevada (2.7), Massachusetts (2.6), Montana (2.6), Pennsylvania (2.6), California (2.5), and Rhode Island (2.4). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 27 were in Michigan (+11,544), New Jersey (+9,663), Wisconsin (+7,051), California (+6,547), and Iowa (+5,204), while the largest decreases were in Texas (- 7,008), North Carolina (-2,377), Florida (-1,860), New York (-1,801), and South Carolina (-1,554). 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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