Initial Jobless Claims Stuck Above 380K

Initial jobless claims came in slightly ahead of forecasts this morning (386K vs 385K), but were down 6K from last week's revised reading of 392K.  This represents the fifth straight week where claims were at 380K or above, and it further illustrates that the economy is continuing to slow.

Looking at the four-week moving average, jobless claims currently sit at 387K, which is the second highest reading of the year (last week's reading of 387.5K was the highest of the year).  This also represents the 13th week where the four-week moving average for claims did not make a new post-recession low.  The last time we went this long without making a new low was during last Summer's slowdown.

Finally, in this week's report, non-seasonally adjusted claims rose by 4K to 368K.  For the current week of June, this is the lowest reading since 2007 and slightly below the average of 370K since 2000 for the current week.

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