As the noise of jobless claims data once again ripples through the narrative of unequivocally good low gas prices, initial claims in Shale States continues to trend higher. TX and PA saw the largest rise in claims (from the Shale States) lagged a week. Overall, initial jobless claims jujmped 24k to 304k (above the supposed Maginot Line demarcating the "everything is awesome" from the "we're gonna need a bigger QE") missing expectations by the most in a month. Initial Claims trend appears to have seen a regime shift... as Shale States continue to see a trend higher in jobless claims... (4-week average used to smooth noise) Charts: Bloomberg