Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Decrease to 221,000

The DOL reported:

In the week ending July 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, a decrease of 7,000
from the previous week’s unrevised level of 228,000. The 4-week moving average was 233,750, a decrease of 3,750 from
the previous week’s unrevised average of 237,500.
emphasis addedThe following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since 1971.

Click on graph for larger image.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims decreased to 233,750.

The previous week was unrevised.

Weekly claims were below the consensus forecast.