by Calculated Risk on 12/22/2011 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending December 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 364,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 368,000. The 4-week moving average was 380,250, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised average of 388,250.

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 this week to 380,250.

This is the lowest level for weekly claims - and the lowest level for the 4-week average - since early 2008.

And here is a long term graph of weekly claims:

This survey was for the BLS reference week for the employment report, so this suggests an increase in payroll jobs in December (compared to November).

This was below the consensus forecast of 380,000 initial claims.

All current Employment Graphs