By Kevin Kastner and Ian McKendry

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment
benefits rose 6,000 to 402,000 in the November 26 holiday week after
holding below 400,000 in the previous three weeks, the Labor Department
reported Thursday.

A Labor Department analyst said that claims were estimated by the
Labor Department for Alaska and Washington, DC, but otherwise there was
nothing unusual in the state level data.

The analyst said seasonal factors had expected a drop in unadjusted
claims of about 17.1%, or 75,000 claims, in the holiday-shortened week.
The actual decline was 15.8% or 69,665 to 370,616 in the current week.
Unadjusted claims were at a level of 412,922 in the comparable week a
year earlier.

Economists surveyed by Market News International had expected
initial claims to come in at 390,000, down 3,000 from the 393,000 level
initially reported in last week’s data. That week’s claims were revised
up to 396,000.

The initial claims seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average was
395,750 in the November 26 week, an increase of only 500 from the
previous week following four straight declines.

The state data released for the November 19 week indicated
unadjusted initial claims increased in 46 states and declined in 6
states, with 1 state’s claims level unchanged. The District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands are included in this data.

Continuing claims rose by 35,000 to 3.740 million after seasonal
adjustment in the November 19 week, the highest level since the
September 17 week when they hit 3.752 million. Unadjusted continuing
claims fell by 222,737 to 3,152,577 in the November 19 week.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate rose to 3.0% in
the November 19 week from 2.9% in the previous week. The current rate
was still below the 3.4% rate in the comparable week a year earlier.

The unemployment rate among the insured labor force is well below
that reported monthly by the Labor Department because claims are
approved for the most part only for job losers, not the job leavers and
labor force reentrants included in the monthly report.

The Labor Department said that the level of unadjusted Emergency
Unemployment Compensation benefits claims rose by 76,254 in the November
12 week, bringing that category to 2,972,894. Extended benefits claims
fell by 6,707 to 548,549 not seasonally adjusted in the same week.

The Labor Department reported that a total of 7,005,495 persons
claimed unemployment benefits in the November 12 week, a rise of 276,832
from the previous week, but still well below the 8,909,965 persons in
the comparable week a year ago. These data are not seasonally adjusted,
and include regular state claims, federal employee claims, new veterans
claims, the EUC and extended benefits programs, state additional
benefits, and STC/Workshare claims.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

[TOPICS: MAUDS$,MT$$$$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]