U.S. unemployment claims rise by 12,000

In the week ending Aug. 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims in the U.S. was 500,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised figure. The four-week moving average was 482,500, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending Aug. 7, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.5 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 7 was 4.478 million, a decrease of 13,000 from the preceding week’s revised level. The four-week moving average was approximately 4.527 million, a decrease of 1,500 from the preceding week’s revised average.

The fiscal year-to-date average of seasonally adjusted weekly insured unemployment, which corresponds to the appropriated AWIU trigger, was 5.010 million.