by Calculated Risk on 8/09/2012 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending August 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 361,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 367,000. The 4-week moving average was 368,250, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 366,000.

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 increased to 368,250.

This was below the consensus forecast of 367,000 and is near the lowest level for the four week average this year.

And here is a long term graph of weekly claims:

All current Employment Graphs