First Time Jobless Claims Drop 5K

Jobless claims, which had edged higher over the past few weeks, are moving back down, confirming that labor market conditions remain solidly favorable. Initial claims in the December 19 week fell 5,000 to a 267,000 level that hits the low-end Econoday estimate. The 4-week average, however, reflecting prior increases rose 1,750 to 272,500 which is only marginally above the month-ago trend.

Continuing claims, which also had been climbing, also came down, falling a very sharp 47,000 in lagging data for the December 12 week. The 4-week average for this reading also reflects prior increases, up 10,000 to 2.211 million. The unemployment rate for insured workers, after rising to 1.7 percent briefly, is back at 1.6 percent.

Though data for the holiday weeks are often volatile, they haven't been volatile this year. There are no special factors in today's report and no states were estimated.

Recent History Of This Indicator:
Initial jobless claims moved lower in the December 12 week, to 271,000 and down 11,000 from the prior week's 282,000 which was the highest since July. Forecasters see initial claims holding steady in the December 19 week, at a consensus 270,000. Note that readings in this report are often volatile during the holiday weeks.