There was no evidence Wednesday that headline US jobless claims are set to meaningfully recede after notching back-to-back prints near 250,000.

To be sure, 250,000’s hardly a disaster. That’s not the stuff recessions are made of. However, the last two weeks’ readings were the highest since a hurricane-related spike in early-October, and they succeeded in pushing the four-week average above 240,000 for the first time since August of 2023.

Claims were released early this week to account for Thursday’s holiday, and although the initial filers print slipped, it’s still elevated, at 245,000. (That counts as “elevated” these days).

The four-week moving average is now 245,500, the highest in 22 months.

This release covers NFP survey week, and if you’re wondering how the 245,000 headline compares to other NFP survey-week initial filers readouts, it’s the highest in two years.

Continuing claims, meanwhile, rose to 1.945 million. That was down a bit from the prior week’s 1.951 million which, you’ll recall, counted as a new “since November 2021” high.

All in all, it looks as though jobless claims might’ve finally reset to a higher range. Whether that’s a recession harbinger’s another matter.