The downward trend is continuing for initial jobless claims. The government said, 4,500,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended Feb. 20, the most recent data available. That's down 134,000 from the preceding week's revised 4,634,000 claims.
The 4-week moving average for ongoing claims fell by 29,250 to 4,575,750 from the previous week's revised 4,605,000.
Although part of this figure may be due to filers dropping off the rolls to extended benefits.
Again, here's Mark Zandi's interpretation: Only when claims head down to 400,000 will the economy be creating enough jobs to maintain stable unemployment. Closer to 350,000 will lower the unemployment rate and mean that the recovery is evolving into an expansion. When we get to initial weekly unemployment claims of 300,000, boom times are back