NoJobSurvivor.com

UPDATED March 4, 2010

The number of new applications for Unemployment Insurance dropped to 469,000 by 29,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 498,000, in the week ending 27 February 2010, the US Department of Labor reported today.

The 4-week moving average was 470,750, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 474,250.

Insured unemployment ending the week February 20 decreased from the adjusted preceding week of  4,634,000 by 134,000 to 4,500,000. The 4 week moving average dropped to 4,575,750 a decrease of 29,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,605,500.

States reported 5,687,574 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending February 13, an increase of 207,632 from the prior week.

Click here for a larger graph of unemployment claims.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending February 6, down a tenth of a percentage point from the prior week's revised rate.

Here are some handy links that has a chart comparing unemployment rates around the world: The G20 Interactive Unemployment Map and state by state interactive map: US States

Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin during the week ending Feb. 13.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Feb. 13 were in Alaska (7.4 percent), Oregon (6.4), Pennsylvania (6.4), Idaho (6.3), Montana (6.3), Wisconsin (6.2), Puerto Rico (6.1), Michigan (5.8), Nevada (5.7), and North Carolina (5.4).

The economy shed 20,000 jobs in January the government reported in its monthly employment report. The unemployment rate declined to 16.5 ^(U6) percent. In January the number of unemployed persons stood at 14.8 million. Long term unemployment (longer than 27 weeks) grew to 6.3 million, or over 4 in 10 unemployed workers at 43%.