by Calculated Risk on 8/18/2016 08:33:00 AM

The DOL reported:

In the week ending August 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 262,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 266,000. The 4-week moving average was 265,250, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 262,750.

There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims. This marks 76 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1970.

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 265,250.

This was close to the consensus forecast of 265,000. The low level of claims suggests relatively few layoffs.