by Calculated Risk on 1/19/2012 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending January 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 352,000, a decrease of 50,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 402,000. The 4-week moving average was 379,000, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 382,500.

The previous week was revised up to 402,000 from 399,000.

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 379,000.

The 4-week moving average is well below 400,000.

And here is a long term graph of weekly claims:



This is the lowest level for weekly claims since April 2008.

All current Employment Graphs