by Calculated Risk on 6/10/2010 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:

In the week ending June 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 456,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 459,000 [revised up from 453,000]. The 4-week moving average was 463,000, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 460,500.
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The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 29 was 4,462,000, a decrease of 255,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,717,000.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

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

The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased this week by 2,500 to 463,000.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. Initial weekly claims first fell to this level in December 2009, and have been at the same level for about 6 months. The current level of 456,000 (and 4-week average of 463,000) is still high, and suggests ongoing weakness in the labor market.