US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Decrease in the Week Ending August 22

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 203,000 for the week ending Saturday, August 22, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 207,000 (originally 206,000). The four-week moving average was 205,500—an increase of 1,250 from the prior week’s revised average of 204,250 (originally 204,000).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 15 was 1,778,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,796,000 (originally 1,799,000). The four-week moving average was 1,788,500—an increase of 250 from the prior week’s revised average of 1,788,250 (originally 1,789,000).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending August 15, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.