Continuing Claims Soar by

159,000 to New Record;

Initial Jobless Claims Skewed By Autos
The peak in initial claims might be in but the peak in unemployment has not. Moreover, reported continuing claims hit 6.883 million, setting a new all time record. By the way, the real number of continuing claims is closer to 9.4 million as detailed below. Please consider the Department of Labor Weekly Claims Report.Seasonally Adjusted Data. In the week ending July 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 565,000, a decrease of 52,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 617,000. The 4-week moving average was 606,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised average of 616,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.1 percent for the week ending June 27, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 5.0 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 27 was 6,883,000, an increase of 159,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6,724,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,769,000, an increase of 12,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,757,000. ( learn more at )