by Calculated Risk on 8/04/2011 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

in In the week ending July 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 400,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 401,000 [from 398,000]. The 4-week moving average was 407,750, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week's revised average of 414,500.

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000 (longer term graph in graph gallery).

Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased this week to 407,750.

The 4-week average is still elevated, but has been moving down since mid-May. This is the lowest level for the 4-week average since early April.