Weekly Jobs Report -- Revised Number Approaching The Dreaded 400,000 Mark

Remember: the magic number is 400,000

Last week: 386,000 (down 6,000).

Prior week: revised UP to 392,000 (that's very, very close to the magic number of 400,000

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 386,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week's figure was revised up to 392,000 from the previously reported 387,000.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims easing to 385,000 last week. The four-week moving average for new claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends, slipped 750 to 386,750.

I don't know what "slipped" means in this context. Did the number (386,750) get worse or get better? Of course, it doesn't matter: "750" is a rounding error, neither reproducible nor significant.

Wow, that revised number, 392,000, is very, very close to 400,000, and all things being equal, unless we have a significantly better report next week, I assume the four-week average will move up yet again. We're probably past that point in the year when hiring was going to pick up.