by Calculated Risk on 8/23/2012 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending August 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 372,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 368,000. The 4-week moving average was 368,000, an increase of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 364,250.

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 increased to 368,000.

This was above the consensus forecast of 365,000.


And here is a long term graph of weekly claims:

The 4-week average post-bubble low is 363,000; this week the average was at 368,000.

All current Employment Graphs