FYI: Sometimes a streak or an event just keeps on going that you run out of adjectives to describe it. Back during the Financial crisis, after months where the market saw big decline after big decline and kept hitting more extreme levels, it became hard to describe things without being repetitive. These days, we’re running into a similar problem on the other end of the spectrum with regards to jobless claims. While this week’s print rose 11K and came in higher than expected, the move only brought claims up to 222K. In any other environment, 222K would be an extraordinary level. How amazing has the current run been? This week’s print is the 4th straight week that claims have been below 225K, the 32nd straight week that claims have been below 250K, and the 167th straight week that claims have been below 300K.
With this week’s reading of 222K, the four-week moving average dropped to 213.25K. That’s a new low for the cycle, the century, and all the way back to December 1969!
Finally, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis (NSA), claims rose slightly to 194.6K but still remained below 200K for the third straight week. The last time NSA claims were this low at this time of year was in 1969, and the last time the NSA reading was below 200K for more than three straight weeks was in 1973.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bespokepremium.com/think-big-blog/jobless-claims-running-out-of-superlatives/
