Second Straight Week of Better Than Expected Claims
Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 09:56AM Today's initial jobless claims report was better than expected for the second straight week, coming in at a level 365K versus expectations for 370K. While today's number will have no impact on tomorrow's nonfarm payrolls report, it is the second better than expected employment report of the week, which should provide some boost to sentiment.
The four-week moving average for jobless claims also fell modestly to 365.5K. While it has now been eighteen weeks since the four-week moving average for jobless claims made a post recession low, the direction of claims is moving in the right direction and getting back near new lows.
On a non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) basis, claims fell to 310.5K, which was the lowest reading since May 2008 and the lowest reading for the current week since 2007.
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