by Calculated Risk on 2/23/2012 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending February 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 351,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised figure of 351,000. The 4-week moving average was 359,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 366,000.

The previous week was revised up to 351,000 from 348,000.

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 359,000.

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.

Note: Nomura analysts argue some of the recent improvement is related to seasonal distortions, see Financial Times Alphaville: US jobs and seasonality: the DeLorean edition.


All current Employment Graphs