(Rachel Maddow Blog) For the week ending May 26, the Department of Labor reported Thursday, seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits rose to 383,000, 10,000 more than the previous week's revised figure of 373,000. The four-week moving average, which analysts prefer because it flattens volatility in the weekly numbers, rose to 374,500, up from last week's 370,750.
For all programs, including the federal government's emergency extensions for states hardest hit by the Great Recession, the total number of people claiming benefits for the week ending May 12 was 6,137,862, a decrease of 30,753 from the previous week. Extended benefits were available in Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and West Virginia during the week ending May 12.
Because of the February budget deal in Congress, more and more Americans who have been employed for nine months or longer will be losing their unemployment benefits from now until September because the number of weeks they are eligible to receive them is dropping from 99 to 73 in the hardest hit states. In low employment states, as few as 40 weeks will be available. Already, 409,000 have lost their benefits prematurely because of the deal. By the end of June, that total will reach nearly half a million.
The first-time claims figure released each week is an "advance" number, which is revised the following week when statistics are improved by better information from the states. For instance, the advance figure for the week ending May 19 was 370,000 and revised this week to 373,000. Over the past seven months, since Nov. 5, the revisions have been upward for 24 weeks and downward for five weeks. During that period, the average revision has been about 3 percent.
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