Initial Jobless Claims Continue Decline, 502K Figure Beats Expectations
Labor Department statistics released today showed a marked decline in initial jobless claims, extending a run of such declines. Initial claims are an important barometer for layoffs and hiring. A 12K decline to 502,000 from the previous week, and a drop in the 4-week average to 519,750, is a strong indicator of improvement. The 4-week average is down 20% since the highpoint earlier this year, and initial claims look like those from the beginning of this year. Despite these facts, we are still well above the accepted 450,000 benchmark, which represents the point at which the labor market is theoretically…