by Calculated Risk on 4/02/2015 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reported:

In the week ending March 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 268,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 6,000 from 282,000 to 288,000. The 4-week moving average was 285,500, a decrease of 14,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 3,250 from 297,000 to 300,250.

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

The previous week was revised up to 288,000.

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 to 285,500.

This was below the consensus forecast of 285,000, and the low level of the 4-week average suggests few layoffs.