Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Increase to 244,000

The DOL reported:

In the week ending July 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 244,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 235,000. The 4-week moving average was 235,750, an increase of 3,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 232,500.
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 increased to 235,750.

The previous week was unrevised.

Weekly claims were higher than the consensus forecast