by Calculated Risk on 2/16/2012 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending February 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 348,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 361,000. The 4-week moving average was 365,250, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average of 367,000.

The previous week was revised up to 361,000 from 358,000.

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

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 this week to 365,250.

The 4-week moving average is at the lowest level since early 2008.

And here is a long term graph of weekly claims:



The 4-week average of weekly claims is still moving down and is now well below 400 thousand.



All current Employment Graphs