by Calculated Risk on 10/05/2017 08:33:00 AM

The DOL reported:

In the week ending September 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 260,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 272,000. The 4-week moving average was 268,250, a decrease of 9,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 277,750.

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma impacted this week's claims.
emphasis added

The previous week was unrevised.

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 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 decreased to 268,250.

This was slightly below the consensus forecast.  The recent increase in claims is due to the hurricanes.