Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the seasonally adjusted number of initial claims for unemployment in regular state programs for the week ended October 31 was 751,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level total rose to 758,000 from 751,000 after revisions.
The 4-week moving average was 787,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised average.
In other words, while the labor market, as measured by initial claims at least, is improving, it is improving at a pace that would have trouble winning a race against a snail.
