by Calculated Risk on 9/04/2014 08:33:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending August 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 302,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 298,000. The 4-week moving average was 302,750, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 299,750.

There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims.

The previous week was unrevised at 298,000.

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 1971.

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 increased to 302,750.

This was close to the consensus forecast of 305,000.