It's The Economy Stupid: Jobless Claims Lower

Economic Event	Period	Economic Survey	Actual Reported	Original Prior	Revised Prior
Initial Jobless Claims	SEP 1	370K	365K	374K	377K
Continuing Claims	AUG 25	3315K	3322K	3316K	3328K
Challneger Job Cuts YoY	AUG	-	36.9%	-44.5%	-
ADP Employment Change	AUG	140K	201K	163K	173K

 

Initial jobless claims tick lower; trends suggest no material change in labor market conditions 

 

Initial jobless claims fell to 365k in the week ending September 1 from a revised 377k a week earlier (previously reported as 374k), slightly below the consensus estimates. The decline in claims left the four-week moving average unchanged at 371k. The four-week moving average has ranged between 364k and 377k since July, suggesting little change in labor market conditions over the past two months.

 

Continuing claims fell 6k during the week ending August 25 to 3322k from 3328k a week earlier and the four-week moving average ticked lower by 3k to 3321k.

The insured unemployment rate held steady at 2.6% for the 24th consecutive week.

 

Overall, this report suggests that the modest improvement in labor market conditions that began in July has held through August, but greater momentum in hiring is lacking.