by Calculated Risk on 5/06/2010 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:

In the week ending May 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 444,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 451,000. The 4-week moving average was 458,500, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average of 463,250.
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The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 24 was 4,594,000, a decrease of 59,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,653,000.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.

The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased this week by 4,750 to 458,500.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The current level of 444,000 (and 4-week average of 458,500) is still high, and suggests continuing weakness in the labor market.

Although declining over the last few weeks, the 4-week average first declined to this level in December 2009, and has been at this level for about five months.