Continuing Jobless Claims At 3-Month-Highs, Initial Claims Tumble Back To 2021 Levels

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time fell last week to 215k (after hitting four month highs last week), well below the 225k expectations and back to the same levels it was at in 2021...

New Jersey and Oregon saw the biggest WoW rise in initial jobless claims while Minnesota and Pennsylvania saw the biggest decline...

At the same time, continuing jobless claims picked up to 1.821 million Americans - the highest in 3 months...

The bottom line is that initial claims remain low by historical standards and continue to run below year-ago levels, reinforcing the more hawkish 'labor market is resilient' framework introduced last week.