The celebration resumes. This week’s Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report brings genuine good news. New unemployment claims came in at 383k, back below the statistically critical 400k point we hit a little over a month ago. The Bloomberg consensus range was 385k to 450k, so this snuck in better than expectations. Last week’s number was revised up 4k. From the report:

In the week ending Feb. 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 383,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 419,000. The 4-week moving average was 415,500, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 431,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.1 percent for the week ending Jan. 29, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.1 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Jan. 29 was 3,888,000, a decrease of 47,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,935,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,932,250, an increase of 250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,932,000.

There was some minor divergence in the non-trend data. The unadjusted numbers aren’t falling quite as fast as the adjusted numbers right now. Since these numbers correspond to actual people losing jobs, it’s worth noting:

In the week ending Feb. 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 383,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 419,000. The 4-week moving average was 415,500, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 431,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.1 percent for the week ending Jan. 29, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.1 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Jan. 29 was 3,888,000, a decrease of 47,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,935,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,932,250, an increase of 250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,932,000.

This will offer us a decent good list next week. This week’s good / bad lists look good, except for California.

The good list (-1000 or more): NC, GA, AL, NJ, TN, MO, FL, MI, SC, VA, OR

The bad list (+1000 or more): MA, PA, CA

CA (the worst) was +12,274 vs NC (the best) at -11,541. California blamed the return to a five day workweek. Construction was credited by the top 6 of the good list. Trade, service, and manufacturing were also well represented in the good list.

In other news, Cisco disappointed markets. One reason this concerns us was that Cisco blamed state government spending cuts as a reason for future disappointment. Those expectations don’t just hit Cisco. The states are significant direct and indirect employers. The fact that this storm is still in front of us is concerning.

This was a positive report. New claims are at their best level since the economy blew up. The monthly jobs numbers may be anemic, but the labor market is stable enough that they are likely permanent jobs. There are some spooky clouds looming, but there’s now at least a chance at some rebuilding before the next storm hits.