Weekly jobless claims breakout

Weekly initial jobless claims fell 21,000 in the latest week to 434,000, the fourth drop in five weeks and putting it below the bottom end of the range over the past year.

The 4-week moving average dropped 5,000 to 453,250, and continuing claims slipped 122,000 to 4.4 million.



Weekly jobless claims are still too high, but the recent drop is a positive development, suggesting that economic activity may be slowly accelerating.

However, the modest decline in layoffs is not necessarily a signal that companies are starting to increase hiring.  Uncertainty abounds and many businesses will probably take a wait-and-see attitude before significantly adding employees.