Jobless Claims: Steady

Bottom Line: Initial claims declined slightly and are back near their lows of the year. The 4-week average is at 216k, below the 13-week average that is now 220k, indicating the labor market trends continue to improve. Jobless Claims FELL by 2k during the week ended August 11st, 212k, compared with market expectations for an increase to 215k.The 4-week average ROSE by 1.0k to 216k and the 13 week average FELL by 0.8k to 220k. Continuing Claims FELL by 39k during the week ended August 4th to 1,721k, after the prior week was revised slightly higher from 1,745k to 1,760k.The 4-week average FELL by 8k to 1,739k. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, Continuing Claims FELL by 59k to 1,671k during the week ended July 28th. The Insured Jobless Rate STAYED at 1.2% during the week ended August 4th. The insured jobless rate only reflects the number of people collecting regular state unemployment insurance.