by Calculated Risk on 8/06/2015 08:33:00 AM
Thursday, August 06, 2015
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increased to 270,000
The DOL reported:
In the week ending August 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 270,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 267,000. The 4-week moving average was 268,250, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 274,750.The previous week was unrevised.
There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims.
The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 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 decreased to 268,250.
This was lower than the consensus forecast of 273,000, and the low level of the 4-week average suggests few layoffs.