Initial jobless claims for the week ending January 22 decreased by 30,000 to 260,000 (Briefing.com consensus 260,000).

Continuing claims for the week ending January 15 increased by 51,000 to 1.675 million.

The four-week moving average for initial claims increased by 15,000 to 247,000.

The four-week moving average for continuing claims decreased by 10,750 to 1,651,750. That is the lowest average since August 18, 1973.

The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending January 8 was 2,140,986, an increase of 8,444 from the previous week. In the same week a year ago, there were 19,048,138 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs.

The key takeaway from the report is that initial claims came down from the prior week, but are still somewhat elevated presumably due to the effects of the Omicron variant.