In the week ending Aug. 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 576,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 561,000. The 4-week moving average was 570,000, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 565,750.
Let's take a look at the chart:
What does the chart show?
1.) Claims have moved higher over the last few weeks. BUT
2.) The overall trend is still lower.
Even if we stall at this level for another month or two, we're still in better shape than we were a few months ago.
