Initial Jobless Claims Fall, Continuing Claims Up

Washington, DC, Nov. 26, 2008--Initial jobless claims fell back in the latest week, the Labor Department said Wednesday, but remained above 500,000.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending Nov. 22 fell by 14,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 529,000. That was the lowest since Nov. 8. A year ago, initial claims were at 349,000.
 
At the same time, however, the four-week average of initial claims rose to a 25-year high of 518,000. The four-week average measures the underlying trend of claims, smoothing out one-time events like weather or strikes.
 
Meanwhile, the number of continuing jobless claims fell by 54,000 to 3.96 million in the week ending Nov. 15, its lowest mark since Nov. 1.

But the four-week average of continuing claims climbed to a 25-year high of 3.92 million.