In the week ending July 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 253,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 254,000. The 4-week moving average was 257,750, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 259,000. There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims. This marks 72 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1973. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.5 percent for the week ending July 9, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised ... (full story)