In the week ending the 2nd of June, US initial jobless claims dropped from an upwardly revised 389 000 to 377 000, in line with expectations as the consensus was looking for a decline to 378 000. The decline reverses most of the previous week’s uptick, which came as a surprise. The less volatile four-week moving average picked up, rising from 376 000 to 377 750. The decline is an encouraging sign that last week’s uptick was probably only temporary in nature. Nevertheless, we should add that the week under review included the Memorial Day holiday which might have distorted the data. But as the outcome is close to expectations, this does not seem the case. Also continuing claims on the contrary, which are reported with an extra week lag, surprised on the upside of expectations. In the week ended the 26th of May, continuing claims rose from 3 259 000 to 3 293 000, while only a slight increase was expected. As also initial claims surprised on the upside in the week ended the 26th of May, which was reversed in the next one, this uptick in continuing claims might also be due to special factors.