Looking at the Latest Unemployment Figures
Here's a look at the latest unemployment data from the Department of Labor and what it all means.
The latest numbers are for the week ending with May 30. There are two big figures to look at: the number of new unemployment claims filed in the last week and the total number of unemployment claims filed in the last week.
In the last week, the seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance numbered 621,000. This is a 4,000 decrease from the previous week's figure of 625,000 claims.
The number of continuing unemployment claims also dropped. The most recent number (from the week ending May 23) is 6.735 million continuing unemployment claims, down 15,000 from the previous week.
This puts the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 5 percent for the week ending in May 30, the same figure as the week before.
All this can be seen as hopeful signs for the nation as a whole. With recent signs of recovery in the stock market, too, analysts have been saying this could mean the recession is finally easing. Hopefully, that is true.
Michigan still leads the nation with an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent. With the state facing a auto industry woes and a $1.4 billion budget shortfall, the state has more bad news: to help bridge the shortfall, Michigan will close eight prisons, while will eliminate 1,000 state positions.
However, there was one bit of good news for Michigan: the state saw one of the largest decreases in new unemployment claims in the last week: a decrease of 2,812.
Other states with high unemployment rates are Oregon (7.1 percent), Nevada (6.4 percent), Pennsylvania (6.2 percent), and Wisconsin (5.9 percent).
The largest increases in initial claims were seen in Illinois (+3,881), Iowa (+2,312), and South Carolina (+1,792), while states with biggest decreases, in addition to Michigan, were North Carolina (-3,952), Ohio (-2,158), and Tennessee (-2,053).
For newly discharged veterans, the number of new unemployment claims decreased by 181 from the previous week, to 28,435.
With so many sectors of the economy feeling the recession, it is certain that the weekly unemployment numbers will be closely watched to see where the trend is going. This week's numbers showed slight improvement, bringing hope that the worst of the recession is over.
Published by Wynn Murray
I am an aspiring reporter who loves writing and exploring the world. I especially like writing about current events, health, finance, and beauty. View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentEvery American should simply ask one question if you really want to be alarmed at the attitudes of the Congressmen that want to stop all benefits to the unemployed. What is the difference between a Dictator that kills his own people through bullets or starvation and the Dictator wannabe's in Washington that want to kill funding for the unemployed, while funding useless projects with Millions of dollars that will simply bring them more power...overthrow power at that, like the EPA. Starvation is starvation. Whom is out of work, can not purchase the goods that the employed are making. That means the unemployment rolls will grow and grow and grow...and the Nation becomes weaker for it until we are not a nation anymore. The most important group of all is the Unemployed. Kill us off..you are killing the country. See my article "Unemployed Castaways" for another viewpoint of how this country could save us and bring us back into society..if they wanted to
Here it is, 1 year after you wrote this article on unemployment. Jobs are still invisible, unemployment checks are gone the way of the wind. good article, thanks!
Each individual, plus friends, family and any who are affected by this national unemployment crisis: Call, write, email to your Congressman, Senator, President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, etc. Let your own views be known. We, the People, are not too proud to ask for help, when help is sorely needed