(Chart by Meteor Blades, updated by Laura Clawson)
The Department of Labor is
reporting 408,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits,
an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 399,000. The 4-week moving average was 402,500, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 406,000.
The four-week moving average smooths out some of the volatility we see in reports week to week; this week's is the lowest we've seen since April 16. In general, initial claims of less than 400,000 is seen as the threshold for a healthy rate of job growth. (In any economy this size, there will be some initial claims every week due to normal churn.)
Unemployment and in particular long-term unemployment, of course, remain high.