Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decreased to 289,000

Catching up: The DOL reported:

In the week ending March 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 289,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 5,000 from 320,000 to 325,000. The 4-week moving average was 302,250, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,250 from 304,750 to 306,000.

There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims.

The previous week was revised up to 325,000.

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000.

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 302,250.

This was below the consensus forecast of 300,000, and the low level of the 4-week average suggests few layoffs.