by Calculated Risk on 6/23/2016 08:33:00 AM

The DOL reported:

In the week ending June 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 259,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 277,000. The 4-week moving average was 267,000, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 269,250.

There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims. This marks 68 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 decreased to 267,000.

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