In the week ending May 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance was 300,000, which is a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised level (from 326,000 to 327,000). The four-week moving average, a less volatile gauge of underlying labor market conditions, was 311,500—a decrease of 11,250 from the previous week's upwardly revised (by 250) average of 322,750. This level is the lowest for this average since August 11, 2007, when it was 311,250.
