by Calculated Risk on 12/30/2010 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:

In the week ending Dec. 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 388,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 422,000. The 4-week moving average was 414,000, a decrease of 12,500 from the previous week's revised average of 426,500.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased this week by 12,500 to 414,000.

Even though weekly claims are seasonally adjusted, sometimes data for holiday weeks can be a little off.

In general the four-week moving average has been declining and that is good news. If weekly unemployment claims remain below 400,000 that would suggest a better labor market.