U.S. unemployment claims down significantly

WASHINGTON — In the week ending Aug. 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims in the U.S. was 473,000, a decrease of 31,000 from the previous week’s revised figure. The four-week moving average was 486,750, an increase of 3,250 from the previous week’s revised average.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending Aug. 14, 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 Aug. 14 was 4.456 million, a decrease of 62,000 from the preceding week’s revised level. The four-week moving average was approximately 4.509 million, a decrease of 28,000 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 5.001 million.