by Calculated Risk on 4/03/2014 08:30:00 AM

The DOL reports:

In the week ending March 29, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 326,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 310,000. The 4-week moving average was 319,500, an increase of 250 from the previous week's revised average of 319,250.

The previous week was revised down from 311,000.

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 319,500.

This was above the consensus forecast of 320,000.  The 4-week average is close to normal levels during an expansion.