U.S. INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS

Previous week is revised upwards by 6,000 and this week’s data on initial jobless claims skyrocketed. We have been following this chart for some time and the loss of momentum on the downside was signaling a possible reversal on the initial jobless claims. I’ve mentioned the importance of the 52-week average as a strong resistance. With this week’s shocking 78,000 surge on jobless claims, we are now clearly above the year-long average. While we should give this week’s number the benefit of the doubt due to effect of the hurricane, bringing the jobless claims below the 375K level once again will not be easy. 2009-2012 downtrend might be over.