by Calculated Risk on 2/03/2011 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:

In the week ending Jan. 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 415,000, a decrease of 42,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 457,000. The 4-week moving average was 430,500, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 429,500.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims for the last 10 years. The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased this week by 1,000 to 430,500.

This was slightly lower than consensus expectations. The decline in the four week average over the last few months has been good news.