Initial Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Tumbled Last Week, Led By TX & CA

The number of Americans filing for jobless claims for the first time last week tumbled last week to 239k, from the 265k – 20-month high – the prior week.

Source: Bloomberg

California and Texas saw the biggest drop in claims last week by a long way while Connecticut and New Jersey saw the biggest increase…

While smoother 4-week average of initial claims rose to its highest since Nov 2021, Continuing claims continued to drift lower (to 1.742mm) – the lowest since Feb 2023.

Source: Bloomberg

Very much not what The Fed wants to see after 500bps of rate-hikes.