The DOL reports:



In the week ending January 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 326,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 325,000. The 4-week moving average was 331,500, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 335,250.

Click on graph for larger image.

The previous week was revised down from 326,000.The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000.The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased to 331,500.This week was the BLS reference period for the employment report and the recent decline in claims is a positive sign for the January report.