Updated: 17-Aug-17 09:48 ET

Initial Claims for the Week Ended Aug 12

Updated: 17-Aug-17 09:48 ET

Highlights

• Initial claims for the week ending August 12 decreased by 12,000 to 232,000 (Briefing.com consensus 240K) while continuing claims for the week ending August 5 decreased by 3,000 to 1.953 million from last week's revised rate of 1.956 million (from 1.951 million)

Key Factors

• The latest report marked the 128th straight week initial claims have been below 300,000
• The four-week moving average for initial claims decreased by 500 to 240,500
• The four-week moving average for continuing claims decreased by 6,000 to 1.960 million

Big Picture

• There are no new takeaways from those data series, which continue reflecting a tight labor market.

Category	Aug 12	Aug 5	Jul 29	Jul 22	Jul 15
Initial Claims	232K	244K	241K	245K	234K
4-Wk Moving Avg	241K	241K	242K	244K	244K
Continued Benefits		1953K	1956K	1967K	1965K
4-Wk Moving Avg		1960K	1966K	1965K	1964K