Jobless claims continue to trend lower, housing data mixed
Initial claims came in at 209K for the week, which is 1K below the weekly forecast of 210K. Last week’s report was revised up by 1K to 212K. Weekly reports have remained below 220K for over three months straight.
The 4-week average for initial claims fell slightly to 203K, the lowest since January 2024. Breaking below 200K is the new line in the sand, and we’re only one or two good weeks away. 2026 has been a remarkably calm period of time for initial jobless claims.
Continuing jobless claims also continue their trend lower. Continuing claims rose week-over-week to 1.782M but still beat the forecast by 8K. Last week was initially recorded at 1.782M but has been revised down another 6K to 1.776M.
The rolling 4-week average for continuing claims fell by 6K to 1.773M, also the lowest since January 2024.
--Housing--
- Building Permits: 1.442M; +5.8% MoM & -0.21% YoY
- Housing Starts: 1.465M; -2.8% & +7.6% YoY
The housing market continues to be challenged, but there are fits and starts where daylight shines through. Overall, this continues to be one of the longest stretches of depressed market activity for sales. Rising mortgage rates over the past two months will let some air out of the spring buying season, but there wasn’t much momentum in the first place.