by Calculated Risk on 3/22/2012 08:30:00 AM
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decline to 348,000
The DOL reports:
In the week ending March 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 348,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 353,000. The 4-week moving average was 355,000, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average of 356,250.The previous week was revised up to 353,000 from 351,000.
The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWAdkjp7qanjKQ2mh5y7H1vCFWVP5ux2ILZhGAdSRgl4-hFMWC4AmfCZ9c6d_0yJMEPUAZAqKN3ltTJaTjQvROFV1VTmllB7Oqs061W1EQjQyiCpiXi_xactAN0QfADuDq4QRy/s320/WeeklyClaimsMarch222012.jpg)
The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims was declined to 355,000.
The 4-week moving average is near the lowest level since early 2008.
And here is a long term graph of weekly claims:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoma4zmRwsGU-bFar682OTVjG5A_iBZkGe3ry84wIQRD4h33Z3CHEyR_epufNdQPcaFnbDy-FviZUdNy6udcTLSsnH8nv0wYmbugrp35A2dC6B6kX5rOxn3lHU0PPM74t2N1tZ/s320/WeeklyClaimsLongMar222012.jpg)
The ongoing decline in initial weekly claims is good news. Even in "good times" weekly claims are usually just above 300 thousand, and claims are getting there.