by Calculated Risk on 7/19/2012 08:37:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending July 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 386,000, an increase of 34,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 352,000. The 4-week moving average was 375,500, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 377,000.

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 declined to 375,500.

The sharp decline last week due to onetime factors, and some increase was expected.

And here is a long term graph of weekly claims:

This was well above the consensus forecast of 365,000 and suggests ongoing weakness in the labor market.


All current Employment Graphs