by Calculated Risk on 2/11/2010 08:35:00 AM
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Decrease to 440,000
The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:
In the week ending Feb. 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 440,000, a decrease of 43,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 483,000 [revised from 480,000]. The 4-week moving average was 468,500, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 469,500.Click on graph for larger image in new window.
...
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Jan. 30 was 4,538,000, a decrease of 79,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,617,000.
This graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.
The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased this week by 1,000 to 468,500.
According to MarketWatch some of recent increase was due to administrative backlogs in several states:
With today's report, the official said the backlogs had been "washed out".The current level of 440,000 (and 4-week average of 468,500) are still high and suggest continuing job losses.