Weekly unemployment benefit applications were little changed last week and remained stuck near a three-month high. That suggests hiring may have slowed after strong job gains this winter.
Here are the states with the biggest changes in unemployment benefit applications, and some reasons for the changes. The state data is for the week ended April 14, one week behind the national data:
States with the biggest declines
Washington: Down 5,700, no reason given
Pennsylvania: Down 5,362, due to fewer layoffs in the transportation, construction, entertainment, food service, and professional services industries.
Oregon: Down 3,649, no reason given
Indiana: Down 3,341, due to fewer layoffs in manufacturing
Maryland: Down 2,865, no reason given
Michigan: Down 2,348, due to fewer layoffs in manufacturing
States with the biggest increases
New York: Up 3,352, due to layoffs in the transportation, food service and educational industries
California: Up 3,060, due to layoffs in services
Georgia: Up 2,179, due to layoffs in manufacturing, construction and wholesale trade.
Florida: Up 2,048, due to layoffs in the agriculture, construction, services and manufacturing industries.
North Carolina: Up 1,923, due to layoffs in textiles, construction and the amusement and recreation industries.
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