Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 783 in the week ending March 29, an increase of 19 from the prior week. There were 1,391 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, an increase of 115 from the preceding week.
There were 13,345 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending March 22, a decrease of 1,967 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 22,009, a decrease of 17 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 22 were in Alaska (4.4 percent), Michigan (4.3), Rhode Island (3.8), Wisconsin (3.7), Pennsylvania (3.6), Idaho (3.4), Oregon (3.4), Vermont (3.4), New Jersey (3.3), and Puerto Rico (3.3).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 29 were in Indiana (+7,443), New York (+4,123), Puerto Rico (+3,900), New Jersey (+3,294), and Kentucky (+2,840), while the largest decreases were in Pennsylvania (-2,513), California (-1,595), Iowa (-895), Virginia (-800), and Illinois (-509).