Jobless claims at 6-month low

By Julianne Pepitone, CNNMoney.com contributing writer
Last Updated: July 16, 2009: 9:02 AM
There were 522,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended July 11, down 47,000 to from a revised-up 569,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said. The number of claims was the lowest since the 488,000 claims reported in the week ended Jan. 3, a week that included the New Year holiday.
The number was much less than the consensus estimate of 553,000 from economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
The 4-week moving average of initial claims was 584,500, down 22,500 from the previous week's revised average of 607,000.
Continuing claims: The government said 6,273,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended July 4, the most recent data available. The week included the Independence Day holiday.
That's down 642,000 from the preceding week's revised 6,915,000 claims.
The 4-week moving average for ongoing claims fell to 6,666,750, down 110,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,777,000.
State-by-state data: A total of seven states reported initial claims fell by more than 1,000 in the week ended July 4, the most recent data available.
New Jersey's claims fell the most, by 5,030 -- which a state-supplied comment attributed to the shorter workweek, as well as fewer layoffs in the transportation, warehousing, trade, and service industries.
Conversely, nine states reported claims increased by more than 1,000. Michigan reported the most new claims, at 12,144.
First Published: July 16, 2009: 8:38 AM ET