Jobless claims for the first 26 weeks of 2014 now average 326,000 weekly, not seasonally adjusted. For the same period last year the average was 352,000.
The current rate implies 16.95 million claims in 2014. In 2013 actual claims not seasonally adjusted were 17.75 million.
The best years in recent memory were under George W. Bush: 16.2 million claims in 2006, and 16.7 million claims in 2007.
First time claims for unemployment had been as high as 29.5 million in 2009.
