Unemployment insurance weekly claims, US

Each Thursday, the Department of Labor issues the Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report. Initial jobless claims measure the number of filings for state jobless benefits. This report provides a timely, but often misleading, indicator of the direction of the economy, with increases in claims signalling a slowing economy. On a week-to-week basis, claims are quite volatile, so many people track the four week moving average to get a better sense of the underlying trend. It typically takes a sustained move of at least 30K in claims to signal a meaningful change in job growth. We also show the figures for the insured unemployed and unemployment rate. The the number of people receiving state benefits also appears in the release but is watched less closely by the market. SA = Seasonly adjusted and NSA = Not seasonly adjusted