by Calculated Risk on 4/20/2017 08:35:00 AM
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increase to 244,000
The DOL reported:
In the week ending April 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 244,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 234,000. The 4-week moving average was 243,000, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 247,250.The previous week was unrevised.
emphasis added
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 243,000.
This was at the consensus forecast.
The low level of claims suggests relatively few layoffs.