By Patricia L Johnson

The U.S. Department of Labor released the Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report on August 25, 2011 for the week ending August 20, 2011.

The report indicates seasonally adjusted initial claims at 417,000, an increase of 5,000 over the previous week’s revised total of 412,000, with the 4-week moving average increasing 4,000 from 403,500 to 407,500.

The immediate reaction from most of us would be a sign of disappointment that once again there has been an increase in unemployment claims in our country, but was there?

A labor dispute between Communications Workers of America and Verizon Communications resulted in 12,500 initial unemployment claims filed for the week ending 8/13/2011 and at least, an additional 8,500 initial claims filed for the week ending 8/20/2011.

Removing the 21,000 from the totals makes a huge difference because it indicates Unemployment Claims have actually dropped significantly during the two weeks ending 8/13/2011 and 8/20/2011.

Will the media advise the public of the labor dispute, or will they simply criticize the White House as they normally do?

The full report may be read at the following:  http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm

© 2011 Patricia L Johnson