First time claims for unemployment benefits nationwide fell for the 10th straight week, although initial unemployment claims in Maryland rose by more than 9,000, after falling by more than 2,600 the previous week.
Initial claims in the District and Virginia continued to decline.
Nationwide, 1.54 million Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 6, down from 1.88 million the previous week.
Continuing claims, or the total number of out of work Americans drawing unemployment benefits, fell to 20.9 million, down from 21.5 million the previous week.
Nationwide, the unadjusted, initial claims number, which factors out seasonal influences, was 1.537 million last week.
Here are the unadjusted initial unemployment claims for D.C., Maryland and Virginia:
District of Columbia
Week ending June 6: 3,291
Week ending May 30: 3,559
Maryland
Week ending June 6: 41,104
Week ending May 30: 31,920
Virginia
Week ending June 6: 30,164
Week ending May 30: 31,379
The Labor Department does not break out weekly unemployment claims by metro area.
The Washington, D.C. metro’s unemployment rate in April tripled to 9.9%.
The Labor Department posts initial unemployment claims weekly by state.
