The U.S. Department of Labor reported that seasonally adjusted unemployment insurance (UI) initial claims decreased by 50,000 for the week ended January 14, 2012, to 352,000. This is well below the 400,000 figure economists typically look at as a signal that job growth is strong enough for the unemployment rate to come down. The last time initial claims were at this level was April 19, 2008. The 4-week moving average was 379,000, down 3,500 from last week’s revised average of 382,500. This marks the tenth consecutive week for which initial claims were at, or below, 400,000. The unadjusted initial claims level totaled 521,613, down 124,606 from the previous week.
UI continued claims, seasonally adjusted, for the week ending January 7, 2012, decreased 215,000 to 3,432,000 from the prior week’s revised number of 3,647,000. The 4-week moving average decreased 34,000 from the prior weeks revised 3,610,250. The total number of workers claiming benefits (unadjusted) in all programs for the week ending December 31st was 7,826,665. Regular state continued claims (unadjusted) increased by 379,856, and EUC 08 (unadjusted) increased by 100,170.
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