US initial jobless claims 260K versus 260K estimate

The US initial jobless claims and continuing claims for the current week shows:

• Initial jobless claims 260K versus 260K estimate
• 4-week moving average of initial jobs claims increased to 247K from 232K last week.
• Continuing claims 1.675M versus 1.635M last week.
• 4 week moving average of continuing claims decreased to 1.651M vs 1.662M last week. The MA is the lowest since August 18. 1973.
• Prior week 286K revised to 290K
• The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending January 15 were in California (+805), Kentucky (+527), Puerto
  Rico (+473), Rhode Island (+464), and Virginia (+406),
• The largest decreases were in New York (-13,854),
  Missouri (-7,098), Washington (-6,016), Michigan (-5,555), and Texas (-4,773).

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For what it’s worth, the continuing claims data corresponds with the survey week by the BLS. Last week the initial claims corresponded with the survey week and showed a sharp rise due to omicron. The US jobs report released a week from Friday. Last month the nonfarm payroll came at 199K weaker than expectations.