Weekly Job Claims Remain High
Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that initial weekly jobless claims declined slightly to 472,000. Initial claims need to fall into the 300,000s for the unemployment rate to decline, economists say. That means many economists expect the unemployment rate for August, due to be released tomorrow, will increase beyond the current rate of 9.5 percent. The BLS also revised last week’s claims up from 473,000 to 478,000.
Initial claims have remained sustained around 450,000 or 470,000 since January, the strongest evidence of the stall-out in the recovery. The four-week claims average, which smooths out weekly volatility, is at 485,500 — a bit lower after climbing for weeks.
