Jobless Claims Jump to 493,000 on Hurricane Gustav: Dept of Labor

In the week ending Sept. 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 493,000, an increase of 32,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 461,000. It is estimated that the effects of Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana and the effects of Hurricane Ike in Texas added approximately 50,000 claims to the total. The 4-week moving average was 462,500, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's revised average of 446,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending Sept. 13, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Sept. 13 was 3,542,000, an increase of 63,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,479,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,489,250, an increase of 28,250 from the preceding week's unrevised average of 3,461,000. 

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 3.042 million.

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 395,601 in the week ending Sept. 20, an increase of 10,544 from the previous week. There were 247,643 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent during the week ending Sept. 13, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,014,605, a decrease of 54,090 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 1.6 percent and the volume was 2,160,459.

Extended benefits were available in Alaska and Rhode Island during the week ending Sept. 6.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,077 in the week ending Sept. 13, an increase of 135 from the prior week. There were 1,829 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 134 from the preceding week.

There were 13,371 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Sept. 6, a decrease of 31 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 21,903, an increase of 650 from the prior week.

States reported 1,056,924 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Sept. 6, a decrease of 337,405 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Sept. 6 were in Puerto Rico (4.9 percent), New Jersey (3.3), California (3.2), Michigan (3.2), Oregon (3.2), Nevada (3.1), Pennsylvania (3.1), South Carolina (3.1), Rhode Island (2.9), and Arkansas (2.8).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Sept. 13 were in Louisiana (+18,409), Florida (+4,863), California (+4,679), South Carolina (+2,562), and Kansas (+2,397), while the largest decreases were in Wisconsin (-2,373), Arkansas (-550), Indiana (-508), North Carolina (-479), and Iowa (-429).