by Calculated Risk on 2/09/2012 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending February 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 358,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 373,000. The 4-week moving average was 366,250, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week's revised average of 377,250.

The previous week was revised up to 373,000 from 367,000.

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000.

Click on graph for larger image.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased this week to 366,250.

The 4-week moving average is at the lowest level since May 2008.

And here is a long term graph of weekly claims:



The 4-week average of weekly claims is still moving down and is now well below 400 thousand.


All current Employment Graphs