It bores me as much to write about this as it probably does you to read about it but the numbers are important and as good a coincident indicator as you can get with respect to the economy.

Initial claims for unemployment came in at 570,000 which represents a decrease of 10,000 from the prior week. The four-week moving average was 566,250 down 4,750.

Nothing earthshaking in either set of numbers. Most analysts figure the screwy adjustments in earlier weeks have worked their way through so there isn’t any hidden message. The real message is that that employment is still very weak and not getting much better right now.

more: here (Department of Labor)