By Charles Thibault on June 18, 2009 in Unemployment Insurance Claims.

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The Department of Labor announced this morning that new unemployment claims increased slightly on a seasonally adjusted basis, moving from 605,000 new claims two weeks ago to 608,000 new claims last week.  The 4-week moving average of seasonally adjusted new unemployment claims, however, has come down for the second week in a row, and for the 8th time since reaching its maximum ten weeks ago.  The 4-week moving average fell by 7,000 new claims from 622,750.

Hiring Demand has not significantly picked up in the past week.  The number of new job ads, on a seasonally unadjusted basis, fell from 746,000 to 696,000.

Combined with the monthly Nonfarm Employment Payrolls, UI data suggest that, even though the labor market is not picking up any significant steam, declines have subsided.  The economy is still struggling, but the rate at which companies are reducing their workforces has been toned down.

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