US DATA: Initial jobless claims +21k to 377k in Jan 21 holiday
week, higher than the 369k level expected. Claims in the prev wk rev up
4k to 356k vs 352k originally. Labor analyst said no states estimated
and there was nothing unusual in the state level data. Analyst said
seasonals expected NSA claims to decline by 25.7% or by 135k. NSA claims
actually down 21.4% or -112,817 to 414,122. 4-wk moving avg -2,500 to
377,500 in Jan 21 wk. Cont claims +88k to 3.554m in Jan 14 survey wk.
Down 62k vs. Dec 16 employment survey week (3.616m)