US DATA: Initial jobless claims -35k to 353k in July 21 wk,
offsetting the previous week’s jump in claims and well below
expectations of 380k. Labor analyst said seasonal factors expected NSA
claims to fall 85,000 following the large uptick in the previous week.
Actual NSA claims fell more than expected, plunging 118,201 in the
current week to 337,059. The analyst said there was nothing unexpected
in the week’s data and only Utah was estimated. He did note that the
data has been volatile this month and said to look to the 4-wk moving
average as that helps ‘smoothen out’ the volatility. The 4-wk moving avg
-8,750 to 367,250, low since the Mar 31 wk and the fifth drop in a row.
Cont claims -30k to 3.287m in the July 14 employment survey wk, -15k vs
the June 16 survey wk.