There were 17,080 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Feb. 16, an increase of 747 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 22,507, a decrease of 709 from the prior week.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Feb. 16 were in Alaska (5.2 percent), Michigan (4.4), Rhode Island (4.1), Pennsylvania (4.0), Idaho (3.9), Wisconsin (3.8), New Jersey (3.5), Oregon (3.5), Montana (3.4), Massachusetts (3.3), and Vermont (3.3).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Feb. 23 were in Massachusetts (+3,908), California (+3,022), Connecticut (+1,993), Louisiana (+1,851), and New Jersey (+1,494), while the largest decreases were in North Carolina (-1,829), Indiana (-1,296), Pennsylvania (-1,118), Tennessee (-1,090), and Washington (-981).