Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increase to 343,000

The DOL reports:

In the week ending July 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 343,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 336,000. The 4-week moving average was 345,250, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average of 346,500.

The previous week was revised up from 334,000.

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 to 345,250.

The 4-week average has mostly moved sideways over the last few months.  Claims were close to the 341,000 consensus forecast.