While all other government data releases are halted, the DOL has been kind enough to keep its Initial Claims random number generator running, and this week, following several weeks of "computer system update" distortions, reported the fifth consecutive week of expectations beats with a print of 308K, below the 315K expected, but above the upward revised 307K from last week. Alas, the number is once again completely meaningless as the DOL said Federal furloughs will not show up in claims data, which means that all of the up to 800,000 newly filing government workers will remain completely under the radar, and forcing even more people to wonder just what is the utility of any government data, even when the government is generous enough to not be shut down. Equities did not move at all on the news but gold and bonds are rallying.
5th week in a row of beats for initial claims...
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Of note: continuing claims missed expectations by the most in 3 months with the biggest week to week rise in 11 months.
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