Commentary Californians’ recent increase in claims for unemployment insurance represented 60 percent of the increase for the entire United States. According to the report (pdf) this week from the U.S. Department of Labor on unemployment insurance claims for the week ending Sept. 18, claims across the U.S. totaled 306,209, up 40,307 from the previous week. According to same report, claims in California were up 24,221 from the previous week. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the overall population of California, at 39.5 million, is only 11.9 percent of the entire U.S. population of 331.5 million. That means the increase in claims filed by Californians from the previous week is five times their proportion of the overall U.S. population (60 percent of the increase versus 12 percent). The 24,000 increase is 60 percent of the 40,000 increase in claims for the entire U.S. Looking at absolute …