Initial Jobless Claims Fall To Lowest Level Since February 2006

Expectations were for claims to rise slightly to 295,000, up from last week's 287,000.

Last week's report was revised up slightly to 288,000.

The 4-week moving average of claims fell to 287,750, down 7,250 from last week, the lowest 4-week moving average since February 4, 2006.

In a note to clients ahead of the report, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macro wrote, "Barring some sort of fluke, claims will be 300K or less, keeping them very close to all-time lows when expressed as a percentage of the labor force. These data extend back to 1948, so to match the lows seen during the booms of the post-war era is remarkable, given that GDP growth has not yet returned to pre-crash rates."

We'll be back with the live numbers when they hit.