US DATA: Initial jobless claims -5k to 359k in March 24 week, above
expectations of 350k and lowest since week of Apr. 19 2008 (352k). Labor
Dept has released new seas. factors and annual revisions going all the
way back to Jan. 2007. Numbers now reflect these revisions. Claims in
the prev wk rev up to 364k vs 348k originally, while Mar 10 wk now 363k
from 353k previous. Labor analyst said Alaska and Hawaii claims were
estimated, but otherwise nothing unusual in the state data. Seasonal
factors expected NSA claims to rise by 4,700 but actual NSA claims drop
by a mere 33 to 319,349. 4-wk moving avg -3,500 to 365k in March 24 wk.
Continuing claims -41k to 3.340m in March 17 employment survey week, low
since Aug. 9, 2008 wk. Cont claims -87k vs Feb. 18 survey week.