Oklahoma Employment Security Commission

Economic Research and Analysis - Initial and Continued Claims

There are two components to the unemployment insurance claims data. The first component is initial claims. Initial claims measure how many workers are filing an unemployment insurance claim for the first time. The second component is continued claims. Continued claims indicate the number of workers that continue to receive the unemployment insurance benefit after their initial claim.

For the file week ending on 1/28/2012 initial claims decreased by 1,353 from 4,092 to 2,739. For the same file week ending the initial claims four week moving average decreased by 281 from 3,789 to 3,508.

For the file week ending on 1/28/2012 continued claims decreased by 1,645 from 26,735 to 25,090. For the same file week ending the continued claims four week moving average decreased by 330 from 26,515 to 26,185.

The following two charts illustrate changes in initial and continued claims from January 3, 1987 through January 28, 2012. This data was gathered from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration’s web site. To download a spreadsheet containing the data click here. For data on other states or for more information on the data visit their website at http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims.asp.