by Calculated Risk on 2/11/2016 08:36:00 AM
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decrease to 269,000
The DOL reported:
In the week ending February 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 269,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 285,000. The 4-week moving average was 281,250, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 284,750.The previous week was unrevised.
There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims.
The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.
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 281,250.
This was below the consensus forecast of 281,000. The low level of the 4-week average suggests few layoffs.