Blue Line 4 Week Average
The market was expecting 355,000 to 365,000 vs the 330,000 reported. The more important 4 week moving average is down from 359,250 (reported last week) to 351,750.
It should be pointed out that Econintersect watches the year-over-year change on the 4 week moving average. There is some seasonality which seems to have migrated into the seasonally adjusted data – specifically there is a decline in unemployment in the last third of the year (see bottom graph below). The initial claims are 6.8% lower (improving from 5.5% last week) than they were in this week in 2012. Claims remain elevated from the trend lines seen for most of 2012 until November.
From the Department of Labor:
In the week ending January 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 330,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 335,000. The 4-week moving average was 351,750, a decrease of 8,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 360,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent for the week ending January 12, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 12 was 3,157,000, a decrease of 71,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,228,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,197,500, a decrease of 12,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,209,750.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims – 4 Week Average – Seasonally Adjusted – 2011 (red line), 2012 (green line), 2013 (blue line)
