It's Thursday

And we have the new initial jobless claims for last week.  Also, the updated GDP numbers have improved relative to the initial report:

The second-quarter decline in U.S. economic output was less severe than initially estimated and unemployment claims fell slightly last week, signs of measured slowing in the overall economy in the face of high inflation and easing consumer demand.

U.S. gross domestic product contracted at a 0.6% annual rate from April to June, compared with an initial estimate of a 0.9% decline, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. One factor was an upward revision of consumer spending, which accounts for the bulk of economic output.

………

Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, decreased to a seasonally adjusted 243,000 last week from a revised 245,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The weekly number has held close to 250,000 since early July after rising from a 50-year low in March.

………

Last week’s unemployment claims total was below the 2022 peak of 261,000 set in July but above the 2019 weekly average of 218,000. The four-week moving average for initial claims, which smooths out weekly volatility, rose by 1,500 to 247,000.

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving government unemployment payments, decreased by 19,000 to 1.42 million in the week ended Aug. 13. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag.

I have no clue where all this is going in the next few months.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯