by Calculated Risk on 9/05/2013 08:30:00 AM
Thursday, September 05, 2013
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decline to 323,000
The DOL reports:
In the week ending August 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 323,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 332,000. The 4-week moving average was 328,500, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average of 331,500.
The previous week was revised up from 331,000.
The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdJNQbw5E42jfbegXkulTHffom1L5IXPYOcT3jCBmu9AXTUmwO3B9kyCjpFu5OpVPLYFMuDE9oKZzIMhW1pBYxd7W4KRW6sFjN0CcezA0rYmjq8OybujZ1HhvOUYuBYeHnLXu/s320/WeeklyClaimsSept52013.jpg)
The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased to 330,500.
The 4-week average is at the lowest level since October 2007 (before the recession started). Claims were below the 330,000 consensus forecast.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3zZUq7ii7Dsbe_0zexStGOvaQS8m9gtJuzjELW4QHQ3_vzDrJ3tQ_zE2UUZhBp61akVT72uuonUvRzRppXErQAc9GZWl9TqFvpaVXWZjCE7M6Nc7K5HwkbQtT93Q83hXGZ4C/s320/WeeklyClaimsLongSept52013.jpg)