Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increase to 412,000

The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:

In the week ending April 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 412,000, an increase of 27,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 385,000. The 4-week moving average was 395,750, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average of 390,250.

Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

This graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims for the last 40 years. The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased this week to 395,750.

This is the 7th consecutive week with the 4-week average below the 400,000 level (not by much). This is the highest weekly level since early February.