ETA News Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report (11/21/2012)
Source: Department of Labor, Employment and Training Admin
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending November 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 410,000, a decrease of 41,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 451,000. The 4-week moving average was 396,250, an increase of 9,500 from the previous week's revised average of 386,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending November 10, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 10 was 3,337,000, a decrease of 30,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,367,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,285,000, an increase of 19,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,265,500.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 397,671 in the week ending November 17, a decrease of 80,872 from the previous week. There were 440,157 initial claims in the comparable week in 2011.
....
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending November 10 were in New York (+43,956), New Jersey (+31,094), California (+24,693), Pennsylvania (+7,037), and Connecticut (+1,808), while the largest decreases were in Ohio (-4,996), Indiana (-877), Arkansas (-665), Massachusetts (-607), and Maryland (-576).
Read more: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/eta20122291.htm
Good morning, Freepers and DUers alike. I ask you to put aside your differences long enough to read this post. Following that, you can engage in your usual donnybrook.
There was a huge decrease overall, but enormous increases in New York, New Jersey, and California. Clearly, the anomalies in NY and NJ are due to Hurricane Sandy. California, I don't know. Things will settle down.
I have been posting the number every week for at least a year. I seriously do not care if the week's data make Obama look good. They are just numbers, and I post them without regard to the consequences. I welcome people from Free Republic to examine the numbers as well. They paid for the work just as much as members of DU did, so I invite them to come on over and have a look. "The more the merrier" is the way I look at it.
I do not work at the ETA, and I do not know anyone working in that agency. I'm sure I can safely assume that the numbers are gathered and analyzed by career civil servant economists who do their work on a nonpartisan basis. Numbers are numbers, and let the chips fall where they may. If you feel that these economists are falling down on the job, drop them a line or give them a call. They work for you, not for any politician or political party.
The word "initial" is important. The report does not count all claims, just the new ones filed this week.
Note: The seasonal adjustment factors used for the UI Weekly Claims data from 2007 forward, along with the resulting seasonally adjusted values for initial claims and continuing claims, have been revised. These revised historical values, as well as the seasonal adjustment factors that will be used through calendar year 2012, can be accessed at the bottom of the following link: http://www.oui.doleta.gov/press/2012/032912.asp
