by Calculated Risk on 6/24/2010 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports on weekly unemployment insurance claims:

In the week ending June 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 457,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 476,000. The 4-week moving average was 462,750, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 464,250.
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The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 12 was 4,548,000, a decrease of 45,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,593,000.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000.

The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased this week by 1,500 to 462,750.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average.

Initial weekly claims have been at about the same level since December 2009. The current level of 457,000 (and 4-week average of 462,750) is still high, and suggests ongoing weakness in the labor market.