by Calculated Risk on 12/30/2010 08:30:00 AM
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims below 400,000, Lowest since July 2008
The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:
In the week ending Dec. 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 388,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 422,000. The 4-week moving average was 414,000, a decrease of 12,500 from the previous week's revised average of 426,500.
![Weekly Unemployment Claims](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFGw_KYMRi4UuL7cKoXj7reO1EbU67i5g3rvfk1pWSUyTsSzyanKQn74dQidc1PxHdTYjVsjWfiRQXy6947Q87dR3c5dy22LSrB54L-LyKNgnXzo8wevZqG0CQxjUC-PUtLbR0/s320/WeeklyClaimsDec25.jpg)
This graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000.
The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased this week by 12,500 to 414,000.
Even though weekly claims are seasonally adjusted, sometimes data for holiday weeks can be a little off.
In general the four-week moving average has been declining and that is good news. If weekly unemployment claims remain below 400,000 that would suggest a better labor market.