by Calculated Risk on 2/05/2009 08:42:00 AM
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Unemployment Claims Highest Since 1982
The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:
In the week ending Jan. 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 626,000, an increase of 35,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 591,000. The 4-week moving average was 582,250, an increase of 39,000 from the previous week's revised average of 543,250.
...
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Jan. 24 was 4,788,000, an increase of 20,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,768,000.

The first graph shows weekly claims and continued claims since 1971.
The four week moving average is at 582,250, the highest since 1982.
Continued claims are now at 4.79 million - another new record - just above the previous all time peak of 4.71 million in 1982.

This normalizes the data for changes in insured employment.
A very weak report ...