Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increased to 290,000

The DOL reported:

In the week ending November 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 290,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 278,000. The 4-week moving average was 285,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 279,000.

There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims.

The previous week was unrevised at 278,000.

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 1971.

Click on graph for larger image.


The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased to 285,000.

This was higher than the consensus forecast of 275,000, but the level suggests few layoffs.