Initial jobless claims continue to impress with this week’s reading being the seventh week in a row of sub-200K prints. Falling another 2K week over week to 190K, adjusted claims are now at the lowest level since the last week of January.

While the seasonally adjusted number is low, before taking that into account claims have actually yet to drop below 200K.  Claims are falling as is normal for this point of the year with the past couple of weeks historically being some of the most consistent to experience week-over-week declines on a historical basis. At current levels, claims are comparable to the equivalent week of the year from the past several years excluding 2021.

As for continuing claims, the past couple of weeks have seen the readings begin to pivot lower after rising to the highest level of the year at the start of February.  Continuing claims totaled 1.655 million which is the lowest level since the week of 1/21.  Albeit claims remain off their best levels of the pandemic (for both initial and continuing claims), they remain healthy headed into next week’s nonfarm payrolls release. Click here to learn more about Bespoke’s premium stock market research service.