Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Increase to 249,000

The DOL reported:

In the week ending July 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 249,000, an increase of 14,000
from the previous week’s unrevised level of 235,000. The 4-week moving average was 238,000, an increase of 2,500
from the previous week’s unrevised average of 235,500.
emphasis added

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.

Click on graph for larger image.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased to 238,000.

The previous week was unrevised.

Weekly claims were higher than the consensus forecast.