by Calculated Risk on 8/11/2011 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending August 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 395,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 402,000. The 4-week moving average was 405,000, a decrease of 3,250 from the previous week's revised average of 408,250.

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 405,000.

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 and the first week under 400,000 since April 2nd.