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from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 232,000 to 233,000. The

4-week moving average was 231,500, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's

average was revised up by 250 from 236,000 to 236,250.

revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 8,000 from 1,863,000 to 1,855,000. The 4-week moving

average was 1,863,250, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was

revised down by 2,000 from 1,865,500 to 1,863,500.

4

FOOTNOTES

SA - Seasonally Adjusted Data, NSA - Not Seasonally Adjusted Data Continued weeks claimed represent all weeks of benefits

5. Information on STC/Worksharing can be found starting on page 4-11 of the following link: Extensions and Special

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insurance program offices. These claims may be used for monitoring workload volume, assessing state program

operations and for assessing labor market conditions. States initially report claims directly taken by the state liable for the

benefit payments, regardless of where the claimant who filed the claim resided. These are the basis for the advance initial

claims and continued claims reported each week. These data come from ETA 538, Advance Weekly Initial and

Continued Claims Report. The following week initial claims and continued claims are revised based on a second

reporting by states that reflect the claimants by state of residence. These data come from the ETA 539, Weekly Claims

and Extended Benefits Trigger Data Report.

An initial claim is a claim filed by an unemployed individual after a separation from an employer. The claimant requests

a determination of basic eligibility for the UI program. When an initial claim is filed with a state, certain programmatic

activities take place and these result in activity counts including the count of initial claims. The count of U.S. initial

claims for unemployment insurance is a leading economic indicator because it is an indication of emerging labor market

workers filing for UI benefits. The count of U.S. continued weeks claimed is also a good indicator of labor market

conditions. While continued claims are not a leading indicator (they roughly coincide with economic cycles at their peaks

and lag at cycle troughs), they provide confirming evidence of the direction of the U.S. economy.

Over the course of a year, the weekly changes in the levels of initial claims and continued claims undergo regularly

occurring fluctuations. These fluctuations may result from seasonal changes in weather, major holidays, the opening and

closing of schools, or other similar events. Because these seasonal events follow a more or less regular pattern each year,

their influence on the level of a series can be tempered by adjusting for regular seasonal variation. These adjustments

make trend and cycle developments easier to spot. At the beginning of each calendar year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics

provides the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) with a set of seasonal factors to apply to the unadjusted

U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The Department's Reasonable Accommodation

Resource Center converts Departmental information and documents into alternative formats, which include Braille and large

relay).