My kind of downtrend…

This is my kind of downtrend…

Yes I’m aware that its seasonally adjusted and that January presents all kinds of quirks in the data generally…but I don’t care. This is the best number in absolute terms since this exact week in January of 2008 – pre-Lehman, pre-everything.

This week’s 335k initial jobless claims may not be sustainable – thanks to the seasonal adjustment we probably see this number pushed back up in the coming weeks – but what if we can hold under 375k? Then 350?

A welcome change and more importantly, the trend is being a friend regardless of any one- or two-week blips: