US initial jobless claims preview – Nomura

Research Analyst at Nomura believes the jobless claims are likely to remain steady in the near-term.

Key points

Initial jobless claims have been on a downtrend for a while. The four-week average of this series has been low, despite some weekly volatility in claims during holiday seasons.

This trend suggests that involuntary layoffs remain low as businesses become more inclined to hold on to existing employees.

We expect this data to remain steady in the near term as the labor market continues to tighten. Consensus expects a steady reading of 249k for the week ending 4 February.