Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims increased to 218,000 – Info Risk Manage

by Bill McBride on 8/02/2018 08:33:00 AM

The DOL reported:

In the week ending July 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 218,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 217,000. The 4-week moving average was 214,500, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 218,000.
emphasis added

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 decreased to 214,500.

This was at the consensus forecast. The low level of claims suggest few layoffs.