<H3>• U.S. Initial Unemployment Claims — 23 January 2016 </H3>

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In the week ending January 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 278,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 293,000 to 294,000. The 4-week moving average was 283,000, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 285,000 to 285,250. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent for the week ending January 16, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 16 was 2,268,000, an increase of 49,000 from the previous week's revised level. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending January 9 were in Alaska (4.8), West Virginia (3.5), Montana (3.3), Puerto Rico (3.3), New Jersey (3.2), Pennsylvania (3.2), Connecticut (3.0), Illinois (2.8), Wyoming (2.8), California (2.7), and Massachusetts (2.7). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 16 were in California (+16,425), Puerto Rico (+1,771), Oregon (+192), and the Virgin Islands (+4), while the largest decreases were in New York (-17,476), Pennsylvania (- 15,349), Georgia (-11,141), Missouri (-7,446), and Texas (-7,132). 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. © 2015 Connecticut Human Resource Reports, LLC URL: http://connecticuthumanresources.blogspot.com/

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