Weekly jobless claims post small decline

Fresh from the Dept of Labor Website:

---

In the week ending Sept. 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 450,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 453,000. The 4-week moving average was 464,750, a decrease of 13,500 from the previous week's revised average of 478,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending Sept. 4, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 3.6 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Sept. 4 was 4,485,000, a decrease of 84,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,569,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,503,000, a decrease of 7,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,510,500.

---

The advance figure from last week was 451,000 so the week ending September 11’s figures would have represented a seasonally adjusted decrease of 1,000.  However, recall that last week’s figures included estimates for nine states that didn’t report because of the Labor Day holiday.

Jobless claims should be falling if the economy is really recovering, not hovering back and forth around a stubborn moving average of 450,000 or so.