The UI weekly claims data are used in current economic analysis of unemployment trends in the Nation, and in each State. Initial claims measure emerging unemployment and continued weeks claimed measure the number of persons claiming unemployment benefits.

The monthly summary report is intended to provide the user with a quick overview of the status of the UI system at the national and state levels. This summary report contains monthly information on claims activities and on the number and amount of payments under State unemployment insurance laws. This data is used in budgetary and administrative planning, program evaluation, and reports to Congress and the public.

∙ The data provided is the number of Unemployment Insurance (UI) Initial Claim counts, which includes New and Additional Claims. A "New Claim" is the first claim for a benefit year period, which is 12 months.  An individual would only have one new claim during a benefit year period. Additional Claim is when another claim is filed during the same benefit year and there is intervening work between the current claim and the previous claim.  For example, an individual files a new claim, goes back to work, gets laid off and files another claim before the benefit year period of the first claim expires.  An individual can have multiple additional claims during the same benefit year if they meet eligibility requirements. These figures include only Regular UI, and exclude any Federal/Military claims and extensions.

The Average Weekly Benefit Amount (AWBA) is the average dollar amount a claimant is qualified to receive in Unemployment benefits. These figures include only Regular UI, and exclude any Federal/Military claims and extensions. The AWBA is calculated using “Benefits Paid for Total Unemployment” divided by “Weeks Compensated for Total Unemployment”. As defined by the United States Department of Labor, total unemployment represents the number of individuals, 16 years of age or older, who do not have a job and are eligible for UI benefits. This amount includes individuals who are partially employed and receiving unemployment benefits.

The 13 week average IUR is calculated using data from the current week, plus 12 weeks prior to the current week. This 13-week average IUR is used by the Department of Labor to determine if states will become eligible for specific Federal extensions.

"∙ The data provided is the number of Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims that have exhausted, regardless of the program. The data includes exhaustion counts for the regular UI and the federal extended programs.  The data counts the number of individuals who ran out of benefits in a specific program who may or may not qualify for additional benefits. For example, individuals who have exhausted a regular UI claim may qualify for a federal extension. Individuals who have exhausted all available benefits are also included in the data. The data is representative of those claims that were processed during the month and does not necessarily represent the month the final payment was made in. For example, if a claimant is entitled to benefits for the week-ending January 30, 2010, the claim might not get processed until early February and that count would display in the February data. There are a small percentage of claimants that could go back onto a training extension even after exhausting their FED-ED claim.
"
∙ The data by county represents the mailing address given by the claimant at the time of filing for UI.  It is possible that an individual can reside in a different county than their mailing address.  Also, this information does not represent the county where the individual worked.  It is also possible that a claimant could have moved or changed their mailing address after filing for UI which would not be reflected here. Data for claimants residing outside of California but collecting benefits are not included in these figures nor are invalid addresses in California where a county cannot be determined.
∙ Data includes the regular UI program and the federal extended benefit programs. The Federal extended benefit programs are:
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 1 - California began paying benefits in July 2008.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 2 - California began paying benefits in January 2009, payments retroactive to November 2008.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 3 - California began paying benefits in December 2009, payments retroactive to November 2009.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 4 - California began paying benefits in January 2010, payments retroactive to December 2009.
∙ FED-ED - California began paying benefits May 2009, payments retroactive to February 2009.
∙ Data may include multiple counts for the same individual. For example, a claimant could have exhausted their Regular UI claim in January and then exhausted their EUC Tier I claim in June.

∙ The data provided is the amount of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits paid to claimants. 
∙ The data by county represents the mailing address given by the claimant at the time of filing for UI.  It is possible that an individual can reside in a different county than their mailing address.  Also, this information does not represent the county where the individual worked.  It is also possible that a claimant could have moved or changed their mailing address after filing for UI which would not be reflected here. Data for claimants residing outside of California but collecting benefits are not included in these figures nor are invalid addresses in California where a county cannot be determined.
∙ Data includes the regular UI program and the federal extended benefit programs. The Federal extended benefit programs are:
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 1 - California began paying benefits in July 2008.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 2 - California began paying benefits in January 2009, payments retroactive to November 2008.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 3 - California began paying benefits in December 2009, payments retroactive to November 2009.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 4 - California began paying benefits in January 2010, payments retroactive to December 2009.
∙ FED-ED - California began paying benefits May 2009, payments retroactive to February 2009.

∙ The number of claimants is based on the number of individuals that certified for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits specifically for the week containing the 12th of the month.  For example, the March 2010 figures are based on the number of claimants that submitted a continued claim form to receive UI benefits specifically for the week beginning March 7th through March 13th. Data for the survey week is not available until approximately two months past the survey week (e.g. March 2010 figures were not available until May 2010).
∙ The data by county represents the mailing address given by the claimant at the time of filing for UI.  It is possible that an individual can reside in a different county than their mailing address.  Also, this information does not represent the county where the individual worked.  It is also possible that a claimant could have moved or changed their mailing address after filing for UI which would not be reflected here. Data for claimants residing outside of California but collecting benefits are not included in these figures nor are invalid addresses in California where a county cannot be determined.
∙ The data by month is not additive as individuals can receive benefits in multiple months.
∙ Data includes the regular UI program and the federal extended benefit programs. The Federal extended benefit programs are:
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 1 - California began paying benefits in July 2008.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 2 - California began paying benefits in January 2009, payments retroactive to November 2008.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 3 - California began paying benefits in December 2009, payments retroactive to November 2009.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 4 - California began paying benefits in January 2010, payments retroactive to December 2009.
∙ FED-ED - California began paying benefits May 2009, payments retroactive to February 2009.

Initial Claims by County (all programs) - The number of claims submitted for all UI programs. Initial claims totals are not representative of the number of individuals filing as a claimant can have multiple initial claims.
∙ Initial Claims by County - The data provided is the number of Unemployment Insurance (UI) initial claim counts, which includes new claims, additional claims, and transitional claims.
• A "new claim" is the first claim for a benefit year period (e.g., for the regular UI program it is 52 weeks).  An individual would only have one new claim during a benefit year period.
• An "additional claim" is when another claim is filed during the same benefit year and there is intervening work between the current claim and the previous claim.  For example, an individual files a new claim, goes back to work, gets laid off and files another claim before the benefit year period of the first claim expires.  An individual can have multiple additional claims during the same benefit year if the individual meets the eligibility requirements.
• A "transitional claim" is when a claimant is still collecting benefits at the end of their benefit year period and had sufficient wage earnings during that year to start up a new claim once the first benefit year period ends.
∙ The data by county represents the mailing address given by the claimant at the time of filing for UI.  It is possible that an individual can reside in a different county than their mailing address.  Also, this information does not represent the county where the individual worked.  It is also possible that a claimant could have moved or changed their mailing address after filing for UI which would not be reflected here. Data for claimants residing outside of California but collecting benefits are not included in these figures nor are invalid addresses in California where a county cannot be determined.
"∙ Initial claims does not represent total individuals as an individual can have multiple claims. For example, someone may begin collecting UI benefits, then go off UI to return to work, then get laid off and go back on UI. In this example, the individual would have
two claim counts. "
∙ Data includes the regular UI program and the federal extended benefit programs. The Federal extended benefit programs are:
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 1 - California began paying benefits in July 2008.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 2 - California began paying benefits in January 2009, payments retroactive to November 2008.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 3 - California began paying benefits in December 2009, payments retroactive to November 2009.
∙ Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) Tier 4 - California began paying benefits in January 2010, payments retroactive to December 2009.
∙ FED-ED - California began paying benefits May 2009, payments retroactive to February 2009.

The data provided is the number of FED-ED (Federal Funding for Extended Unemployment) and EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) Tier IV Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims that have exhausted.  Based on the current legislation, claimants can have either an EUC Tier IV or FED-ED claim as their last available benefit option. The data is representative of those claims that were processed during the month and does not necessarily represent the month the final payment was made in. For example, if a claimant is entitled to benefits for the week-ending October 31, 2009, the claim might not get processed until early November and that count would display in the November data. There are a small percentage of claimants that could go back onto a training extension even after exhausting their FED-ED claim.

∙ The data by county represents the mailing address given by the claimant at the time of filing for UI.  It is possible that an individual can reside in a different county than their mailing address.  Also, this information does not represent the county where the individual worked.  It is also possible that a claimant could have moved or changed their mailing address after filing for UI, which would not be reflected here.
∙ Data for claimants residing outside of California but collecting benefits are not included in these figures nor are invalid addresses in California where a county cannot be determined.
∙ California began paying FED-ED benefits in May 2009, with payments retroactive to February 2009 and began paying EUC Tier IV benefits in February 2010, with payments retroactive to December 2009. Currently, FED-ED or EUC Tier IV are the last extended benefit programs available to claimants.
∙ Claimants who had a FED-ED extension filed with an effective date of November 22, 2009, or before, will continue to be paid FED-ED extended benefits until they exhaust those FED-ED extensions, before filing for the additional EUC Tiers (which includes EUC Tier IV). Due to the complexity of the extended benefits legislation, a claimant could have exhausted an EUC Tier IV claim and still be eligible for FED-ED benefits, or vice versa. Therefore, to capture any claimants that have exhausted all available benefits a query is run to look for those claimants who have exhausted EUC Tier IV and FED-ED.
∙ Data for May 2010 through December 2010 have been revised on March 2011.
∙ Data for August 2013 through October 2013 have been revised on December 23, 2013.