by Calculated Risk on 5/20/2010 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:

In the week ending May 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 471,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 446,000. The 4-week moving average was 453,500, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 450,500.
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The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 8 was 4,625,000, a decrease of 40,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,665,000.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.

The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased this week by 3,000 to 453,500.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The 4-week average first declined to this level at the end of December 2009, and has been at this level for almost five months. The current level of 471,000 (and 4-week average of 453,500) is still high, and suggests ongoing weakness in the labor market.