How States Fared On Unemployment Aid Applications

The Associated Press

Weekly applications for unemployment aid fell to nearly a 4-year low last week, a positive sign that the job market's recent improvement is continuing.

Here are states with the biggest changes in applications. The state-by-state data is for the week ended Jan. 28, one week behind the national data.

States with the biggest decreases:

Tennessee: Down 1,855, no reason given

Connecticut: Down 1,523, no reason given

Oklahoma: Down 1,353, no reason given

Alabama: Down 1,297, due to fewer layoffs in the construction, transportation equipment, and food manufacturing industries

North Carolina: Down 1,221, due to fewer layoffs in construction, trucking and warehousing

States with the biggest increases:

California: Up 4,571, due to a backlog of claims from prior week that included holiday

Washington: Up 2,795, due to layoffs in the manufacturing, finance, professional, and educational industries

Florida: Up 2,293, due to layoffs in agriculture, construction, manufacturing, retail and services

Texas: Up 1,485, due to layoffs in manufacturing and retail

Oregon: Up 1,420, no reason given

New York: Up 1,383, due to layoffs in construction, manufacturing and education

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