The Best Thing About Today's Great Jobless Claims Report

Initial jobless claims fell by to 340k from 344k last week. Economists were expecting this measure to jump to 355k.

Recently, the jobless claims report has been the target of criticism because of numbers from big states that often get estimated.

However, today's number was "clean."

TD Securities' Gennadiy Goldberg explains:

Weekly jobless claims data came in much better than expected, falling to 340K from 347K. While claims see a seasonal tendency to fall during this time of the year, seasonal adjustment factors this week were essentially flat, with this ‘clean’ claims figure suggesting ongoing labor market improvement as the 4wk MA has hit a fresh cycle low, falling to 349K from 356K. The Labor Department noted that no states were estimated during the latest week and that there was nothing out of the ordinary behind the numbers, furthering our belief that this week’s data print suggests a more positive trend on the layoff side of the equation.

This is all a good sign for the U.S. labor market.

"Initial claims data suggests improvement on the hiring side of the employment equation just ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payroll print, where market participants continue to revise their forecasts higher," wrote Goldberg.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish the official U.S. employment situation report tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM ET.