by Calculated Risk on 6/02/2016 08:33:00 AM

The DOL reported:

In the week ending May 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 267,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 268,000. The 4-week moving average was 276,750, a decrease of 1,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 278,500.

There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims. This marks 65 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973.

The previous week was unrevised.

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 increased to 276,750.

This was at the consensus forecast. The low level of claims suggests relatively few layoffs.