The trend remains our friend in the land of initial jobless claims. The absolute level is still reflecting pain in the labor market, but there’s no denying that the general ebb and flow of new filings for unemployment benefits is favorable.
As our chart below shows, new filings dropped again last week, falling to a seasonally adjusted 514,000, below the previous week’s 524,000, the Labor Department reports. That puts the latest number at the lowest level since the week ended January 3, 2009.
Confirming the trend is the decline in continuing claims, which dropped below the six-million mark in the week through October 3 for the first time since March.