On Thursday, the government reported claims for unemployment insurance dropped last week.

During the week that ended Jan 23, 470,000 initial job claims were filed. Claims fell by 8,000. In the week prior 478,000 initial job claims were filed.

Experts had predicted jobs claims would have dropped to 450,000.

"It was good news to see it move lower," said John Lonski, a chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "Nonetheless, the 4-week moving average did rise for a second consecutive week and this warns of a possible softening of the labor market."

According to the government, during the week that ended Jan 16, 4,602,000 people filed continuing claims, which is down 57,000 from the prior week of 4,763,500 claims.

In 5 states, unemployment claims dropped more than 1,000 during the week that ended Jan 16. Pennsylvania’s unemployment dropped the most by 25,819. Only three states reported unemployment increased of more than 1,000. California’s unemployment jumped the most by 43,748.

Future:

"The latest news on jobless claims offers no news for celebration," said Lonski. "They are down from the previous week, yet this metric of labor market conditions leaves a lot to be desired."

"We have to be prepared for continued loss of jobs at a rate that is much less severe," he said.

"January's payroll will get a special boost from the fact that the seasonally adjusted loss of jobs in retailers will be less than otherwise, mostly because retailers didn't hire as many people as they normally would," he said. "So if we get a gain in payrolls, it may owe something to the magic or peculiarities of seasonal adjustment."