DEFINITION OF 'UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIM'
A request made by an individual to the state government to receive temporary payments after having been laid off from a job. The United States Department of Labor keeps track of the number of weekly unemployment claims. It provides both seasonally adjusted and seasonally unadjusted claims numbers and also lists which states had an increase or decrease of 1,000 or more claims. These data are reported in the media as an indication of national and state economic health.
Also known as an "unemployment insurance claim" or an "unemployment compensation claim".