Great Jobless Claims Reading Largely Ignored

Another measurement of improvement, the four-week average, fell by 4,750 to 316,250. Even continuing claims came down by 62,000 to 2.776 million. This is what we call the army of the unemployed, although it is tallied up with a one-week lag.

What may stand out more than anything is that this is the first real solid employment number in a while. Yellen and other Fed presidents have talked down the jobs recovery as being a weak one that is not characteristic of prior recoveries. The intent likely is to keep stimulus alive.

Equities were mixed right after the open on likely profit-taking, but that is after a big snap-back recovery this week. The S&P 500 was down almost two points and the DJIA was up five points.