US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Decrease in the Week Ending August 15

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 206,000 for the week ending Saturday, August 15, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 212,000 (originally 209,000). The four-week moving average was 204,000—an increase of 4,250 from the prior week’s revised average of 199,750 (originally 199,000).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 8 was 1,799,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,781,000 (originally 1,777,000). The four-week moving average was 1,789,000—an increase of 2,500 from the prior week’s revised average of 1,786,500 (originally 1,785,500).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending August 8, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.