South By North Strategies, Ltd.

For the benefit week ending on October 15, 2011,  some 13,206 North Carolinians filed initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits, and 106,403 individuals applied for state-funded continuing benefits. Compared to the prior week, there were more initial and continuing claims. These figures come from data released by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Averaging new and continuing claims over a four-week period — a process that helps adjust for seasonal fluctuations and better illustrates trends — shows that an average of 12,985 initial claims were filed over the previous four weeks, along with an average of 104,522 continuing claims. Compared to the previous four-week period, the average numbers of initial and continuing claims were higher.

One year ago, the four-week average for initial claims stood at 14,075 and the four-week average of continuing claims equaled 116,457.

While the number of claims has dropped over the past year so has covered employment. Last week, covered employment totaled 3.72 million, down from 3.74 million a year ago.

The graph shows the changes in unemployment insurance claims (as a share of covered employment) in North Carolina since the recession’s start in December 2007.

Both new and continuing claims appear to have peaked for this cycle, and the four-week averages of new and continuing claims have fallen considerably.  Yet continuing claims remain at an elevated level, which suggests that unemployed individuals are finding it difficult to find new positions.