Jobless claims holding in narrow range

Weekly initial jobless claims fell 3,000 in the latest week to 420,000, while the 4-week moving average increased 2,500 to 426000.  Continuing claims fell 103,000 to 4.06 million.



After finally leaving the range of roughly 450,000 – 500,000 that weekly claims had settled into for over a year, jobless claims appear to be settling into a new range of just above 400,000.

That does suggest that the labor market has improved a bit, as firings decrease.  It also confirms the modest pick up in economic activity that has occurred in the final months of 2010.  However, claims remain elevated amid the uncertainty that still exists.