by Calculated Risk on 8/30/2012 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending August 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 374,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised figure of 374,000. The 4-week moving average was 370,250, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 368,750.

The previous week was revised up from 372,000, so this was an increase from the reported level a week ago.

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 increased to 370,250.

This was above the consensus forecast of 370,000.



And here is a long term graph of weekly claims:

All current Employment Graphs