The following is the unedited transcript of the news release from the U.S. Department of Labor.


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending March 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 378,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 356,000. The 4-week moving average was 365,250, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week''s revised average of 359,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent for the week ending March 8, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week''s unrevised rate of 2.1 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 8 was 2,865,000, an increase of 32,000 from the preceding week''s revised level of 2,833,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,832,250, an increase of 19,750 from the preceding week''s revised average of 2,812,500.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 334,972 in the week ending March 15, a decrease of 6,713 from the previous week. There were 277,187 initial claims in the comparable week in 2007.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent during the week ending March 8, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,285,678, a decrease of 54,754 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.2 percent and the volume was 2,869,668.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending March 1.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 859 in the week ending March 8, a decrease of 18 from the prior week. There were 1,587 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 30 from the preceding week.

There were 16,603 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 1, an increase of 1,284 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 22,548, a decrease of 317 from the prior week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 1 were in Alaska (5.0 percent), Michigan (4.3), Pennsylvania (4.0), Rhode Island (4.0), Wisconsin (3.9), Idaho (3.8), New Jersey (3.5), Oregon (3.5), Vermont (3.5), California (3.4), and Massachusetts (3.4).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 8 were in California (+3,755), Michigan (+2,236), Indiana (+2,158), Wisconsin (+2,135), and Florida (+1,913), while the largest decreases were in New York (-13,504), Connecticut (-2,228), South Carolina (-2,021), Missouri (-660), and Maine (-637).


Available at:

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm