It's Thursday ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So, following one of the worst initial claims report in years, we get a pretty good report.

Initial claims fell by 33,000, and continuing claims fell by 7,000 (the latter is basically flat).

After last week's report this is good news: 

Initial applications for jobless benefits in the US dropped by the most in nearly four years, reversing an unusually large jump in the prior week and consistent with low levels of layoffs in the economy.

Initial claims decreased by 33,000 to 231,000 in the week ended Sept. 13, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. That’s in line with levels seen throughout this year and not far off the pre-pandemic trend. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 240,000 applications.

Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, declined to 1.92 million in the previous week.

The decline unwinds a large jump in the prior week, when initial claims rose to the highest level in nearly four years. That period included Labor Day, and the data can be more volatile around holidays. Also, the advance was mostly concentrated in Texas, which a state official attributed to attempted fraud. 

……… 

The overall drop in initial claims suggests companies are still holding onto workers in an uncertain economic environment. Even so, there are signs of weakness underway in the labor market, from a substantial slowdown in the pace of job growth in recent months to cooling in both supply and demand for workers.

The slow climb in continuing claims is very much an indicator of a cooling job market.