Preemptive Strike: Don't Panic About Unemployment Claims

As I've complained in the past, the media frequently make too much of a single week's data on unemployment claims. There will likely be some tendency to hype the fact that last week's claims were reported today as 380,000 [corrected --thanks David G.], well above the consensus expectation of 355,000.

Before the exaggerations were on the positive side, today they are likely to be on the pessimistic side. Remember folks, it is just one week's worth of data. The numbers are erratic and are...