According to the United States Department of Labor’s Thursday, September 13th, 2012 8:30 A.M. press release, seasonally adjusted unemployment claims were 382,000, an increase from the previous week’s figure of 371,750.
The department further reported that the total number of persons claiming benefits was $5,391,576, a decrease of 78,465. This represents a decrease of approximately $1,750,000 from two years prior, as there were 7,143,572 persons claiming benefits from identical programs in the same week in 2011.
The difference in figures represents a 32% decrease in benefits claimed in just one year. The 3 states with the largest increase in claims from the previous week were Pennsylvania, Nevada and Michigan. The 3 states with the largest decrease were Florida, North Carolina and Georgia from the previous week.
