Weekly Jobless Claims Match Recent High

The Department of Labor released the weekly jobless claims data this morning. The initial claims number for the week ending January 17 was 589,000. This matches the high reached four weeks ago, and represents the highest total since 1982. The four week running average remained constant at 519,250 and is down from the high reached four weeks ago. Continuing claims for the week ending January 10 rose to 4,607,000. This is slightly lower than the high reached two weeks earlier.