In the week ending August 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 232,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 244,000. The 4-week moving average was 240,500, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 241,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.4 percent for the week ending August 5, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.