Thumbs Up: DOL Reports Jobless Claims Drop by 16,000 Last Week

In the week ending Sept. 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 453,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 469,000. The 4-week moving average was 458,000, a decrease of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 464,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5 percent for the week ending Sept. 18, 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 Sept. 18 was 4,457,000, a decrease of 83,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4,540,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,526,750, a decrease of 5,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 4,532,250.