by Calculated Risk on 12/19/2013 08:36:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending December 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 379,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's figure of 369,000. The 4-week moving average was 343,500, an increase of 13,250 from the previous week's revised average of 330,250.

The previous week was revised up from 368,000.

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 increased to 343,500.

This is the second consecutive week with elevated claims, but this might be impacted by the holidays.