Following last month's surge in initial claims (subsequently revised even higher from 385K to 388K), the monthly edition in the series tumbled by 44K to 344K, below estimates of 360K, and which will be revised to 348K or so next month. The reason for the volatility given by the DOL is the "unwind of seasonal swings" which would make sense as the unadjusted number actually rose by 37,025, or about the amount the adjusted number dropped by. Continuing claims rose more than expected to 3,079K, from 3067K, however the number was revised so it can be palatable for MSM consumption, and as a result of the upward revision of February from 3063K to 3091K, it "declined." It is unclear how many if any states were estimate by the DOL in this month's edition of pick the noisy number. Most importantly, unlike the entire past two weeks, a good economic print is good for the market, not just a bad economic print.
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