Initial Jobless Claims Down But Higher Than Expected

In the week ending Aug. 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 450,000, (consensus was 440,000) a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 460,000. The 4-week moving average was 440,500, an increase of 19,500 from the previous week's revised average of 421,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6 percent for the week ending Aug. 2, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.5 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 2 was 3,417,000, an increase of 114,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,303,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,273,750, an increase of 75,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,198,500.
The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 2.995 million.