Job Watch -- Analysts Had It About Right -- Modest Decline -- In The Big Scheme Of Things: More Of The Same; Treading Water

Reuters is reporting:

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000.

Claims for last week were revised upward by another 1,000 (last week was a horrible week, even without the most recent revision). 

Economists polled by Reuters had expected first-time applications to fall to 345,000 last week.

The four-week moving average for new claims, which irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 2,750 to 345,750.