Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decline to 346,000

The DOL reports:

In the week ending June 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 346,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 357,000. The 4-week moving average was 352,500, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average of 348,000.

The previous week was revised up from 354,000.

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 increased to 352,500.

Claims close to the 345,000 consensus forecast.