In the week ended the 28th of January, US initial jobless claims dropped by 12 000, from an upwardly revised 379 000 to 367 000, while the consensus was looking for only a slight decline to 371 000. The less volatile four-week moving average dropped somewhat lower too, from 377 750 to 375 750. The Labour Department added that there we no special factors at play. Continuing claims, which are reported with an extra week lag, dropped to a new cyclical low. In the week ended the 21st of January, continuing claims dropped by 130 000 to 3 437 000. The continuing claims do not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs. During the first month of the year, US jobless claims were extremely volatile, probably due to seasonal volatility after Christmas Holidays. The claims are now again at the levels seen before the Christmas holidays, suggesting that we are hovering back to more “normal” levels. We hope to see this confirmed in the coming weeks.