Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decline to 292,000

The DOL reports:

In the week ending September 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 292,000, a decrease of 31,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 323,000. The 4-week moving average was 321,250, a decrease of 7,500 from the previous week's revised average of 328,750.

From MarketWatch:

a Labor Department official on Thursday said two states made changes to their computer systems that resulted in some claims not being processed in time. The Labor Day holiday may have also skewed the report. As a result, initial claims are likely to rise in the following week

The previous week was unchanged at 323,000.

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 decreased to 332,250.

The 4-week average is at the lowest level since October 2007 (before the recession started).  Claims were below the 330,000 consensus forecast.

Here is a long term graph of the 4-week average of weekly unemployment claims back to 1971.

Note: There were reporting delays and an adjustment for the holiday.