US Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending August 19th

The US Department of Labor reported on Thursday (8-24-23) that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 230,000 during the week ending Saturday, August 19th. This is a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 240,000 (originally reported as 239,000). The 4-week moving average was 236,750—an increase of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 234,500 (originally reported as 234,250).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, known as continuing claims, during the week ending August 12th was 1,702,000. This is a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,711,000 (originally reported as 1,716,000). The 4-week moving average was 1,697,750—an increase of 5,750 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,691,500 (originally reported as 1,692,750).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1% for the week ending August 12th, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate.