WTF Chart Of The Day: Initial Jobless Claims Continue To Confuse

Having torn apart the “official” BLW labor market data earlier in the month, this morning’s jobless claims data remains a mystery. Unadjusted initial jobless claims tumbled to +177k – practically a record low while adjusted claims has been flat for the last month…

Source: Bloomberg

Continuing claims was flat on the week at 1.85mm Americans…

Source: Bloomberg

But the gap between the unemployment rate and unadjusted claims continues to widen…

Source: Bloomberg

…how can The Fed cut rates with near-record-low initial jobless claims prints?