According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending December 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 474,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 457,000. The 4-week moving average was 473,750, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 481,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.9% for the week ending November 28, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 4.1%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 28 was 5,157,000, a decrease of 303,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 5,460,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,416,500, a decrease of 123,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 5,540,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.767 million.