Initial jobless claims were expected to rise modestly last week - after hitting 2-moth lows the prior week - but instead they tumbled further to 221k (the lowest since Feb 2023)

Non-seasonally-adjusted claims plunged from 6-month highs to 2-month lows.

New York saw the biggest drop in claims, followed by California (with only Vermont seeing a rise, and that was tiny). We have never seen a distribution of states' claims that is as skewed as this... something is afoot.

Continuing Claims also dropped to 1.69mm Americans - the first time back below 1.7mm since Jan 2023...

Does any of this smell like The Fed's 500bps of hikes had any impact at all?

...does any of this smell like The Fed's 500bps of hikes had any impact at all?
{ai:summary}Initial jobless claims unexpectedly dropped further to 221k, the lowest since Feb 2023. New York and California saw the biggest decrease in claims, while Vermont was the only state to see a small increase. This skewed distribution raises questions about the impact of The Fed's interest rate hikes. #economy

Initial, Continuing Jobless Claims Plunge To Lowest In 5 Months

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