US Intial Jobless Claims

Initial Jobless Claims are one of the more timely indicators of the health of the labor market and are attracting more attention as they have moved to more elevated levels in recent weeks. From the US Department of Labor:

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Dec. 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 349,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 348,000. The 4-week moving average was 342,500, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 343,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending Dec. 15, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.0 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Dec. 15 was 2,713,000, an increase of 75,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,638,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,644,500, an increase of 13,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,631,000.

The the 4 week moving average dropped by 1,000 however that was because the 353,000 initial claims number for the week to November 24th fell out of the calculations. As noted previously claims are far from recessionary levels however it is only a matter of time before they start to set off alarm bells.