by Calculated Risk on 2/10/2011 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:

In the week ending Feb. 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 383,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 419,000. The 4-week moving average was 415,500, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised average of 431,500.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims for the last 10 years. The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased this week by 16,000 to 415,500.

This is the lowest level for initial weekly unemployment claims since July 2008, although the 4-week average was a little lower early last month. The fairly rapid decline in the 4-week average over the last few months has been good news.