Blue Line 4 Week Average
The market was expecting the weekly initial unemployment claims at 275,000 to 295,000 (consensus 285,000) vs the 287,000 reported. The more important (because of the volatility in the weekly reported claims and seasonality errors in adjusting the data) 4 week moving average moved from 281,250 (reported last week as 281,000) to 281,000.
It should be pointed out that Econintersect watches the year-over-year change on the 4 week moving average. There is always some seasonality which migrates into the seasonally adjusted data, and year-over-year comparisons helps remove some seasonality. The four week rolling average of initial claims are 21.5% lower (better than the 19.3% reported last week) than they were in this same week in 2013 (see chart below).
2014 claim levels are now near 40 year lows (with the normal range around 350,000 weekly initial unemployment claims of levels seen historically during times of economic expansion – see chart below).
From the Department of Labor:
In the week ending October 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 287,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 283,000 to 284,000. The 4-week moving average was 281,000, a decrease of 250 from the previous week’s revised average. There were no special factors impacting this week’s initial claims.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent for the week ending October 18, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 18 was 2,384,000, an increase of 29,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up 4,000 from 2,351,000 to 2,355,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,377,500, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since January 13, 2001 when it was 2,360,500. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,000 from 2,381,000 to 2,382,000.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims – 4 Week Average – Seasonally Adjusted – 2011 (red line), 2012 (green line), 2013 (blue line), 2014 (orange line)