U.S. jobless claims continue to drop

U.S. jobless claims continue to drop

2010-12-17 11:28:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- Initial claims for unemployment insurance in the U.S. dropped to 420,000 in the week ending December 11, a decrease of 3,000, the U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday.

The report also showed that the 4-week moving average was 422,750, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 428,000.

In addition, the department revealed that those unemployed with unemployment insurance remained the same for the week ending December 4, standing at 3.3 percent.

Furthermore, the jobless report showed a 22,000 increase in the number of workers who continue to receive benefits under regular state unemployment programs with 4,135,000 during the week ending December 4. The 4-week moving average was 4,185,500, a decrease of 47,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,232,750.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Nov. 27 were in Alaska (6.9 percent), Oregon (5.4), Puerto Rico (5.0), Montana (4.6), Wisconsin (4.6), Idaho (4.5), Nevada (4.4), Pennsylvania (4.4), California (4.3), and New Jersey (4.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Dec. 4 were in New York (+16,863), North Carolina (+15,276), Pennsylvania (+15,174), Georgia (+15,019), and California (+13,585), while the largest decreases were in Iowa (-2,146), Idaho (-1,169), Puerto Rico (-609), Vermont (-418), and Montana (-191).

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