• Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 11,000 to 239,000 in the week ending August 12. The four-week moving average of initial claims edged up by only 3,000 to 234,000.
• Continuing claims jumped by 32,000 to 1 716 million in the week ending August 5.
• The labor market is showing signs of cooling, but labor demand remains strong.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) declined by 11,000 to 239,000 in the week ending August 12, reversing almost half of the previous week’s increase. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out some of the weekly volatility, edged up by only 3,000 to 234,000 and is at the third lowest level since mid-March. Weekly claims are up from exceptionally low levels throughout 2022 which sometimes dipped below 200,000 per week. 

Continuing claims jumped by 32,000 to 1,716 million in the week ending August 5 but the four-week moving average of continuing claims fell by 8,000 to 1,693 million. This is the lowest level since early-February. This recent decline reflects the fact that laid-off workers are quickly finding new jobs. The insured unemployment rate edged up to 1.2% in the week ending August 5. 

Payroll job growth remains strong this year with the U.S. economy adding more than 235,000 jobs per month, on average, through July 2023, well above the long-run trend. The pace of job growth has slowed this summer with the last three months’ job gain averaging 217,000 per month. The unemployment rate was 3.5% in July, remaining close to a more than 50-year low in April of 3.4 percent.

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