by Calculated Risk on 4/05/2012 08:30:00 AM
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decline to 357,000
The DOL reports:
In the week ending March 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 357,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 363,000. The 4-week moving average was 361,750, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 366,000.The previous week was revised up to 363,000 from 359,000.
The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCwIN0A0Sgf5VOY_4JMBWWwXwNJ-9z_Y1hrcD3BOrwd_CZ9UQ_Vb8aHr5Nl8iO0GlFQV1uPy66FjfqETjtFPLnE4hQRro_iJrnYPMc5TlRc-Kwcod5PCJmAN596l6CeVv8ZrO0/s320/WeeklyClaimsApr52012.jpg)
The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims declined to 361,750.
The 4-week moving average is at the lowest level since early 2008 (including revisions).
And here is a long term graph of weekly claims:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJHShUTAXXSMGnhJ7qaEyj_U69I14kol_QkyajTpBO-H5fAb2_RZuRj1S8W_s2bgdIRuJvXqicRpnLWys5s62WRobWb4EPdfRa02WPKg2dEJJQDe2_QfWKRNtbSs4-29bi8O6V/s320/WeeklyClaimsLongApr52012.jpg)
Slow and steady improvement. This is the lowest level for claims since early 2008.