US employment data remain moderately positive heading into the final month of the year

US employment data remain moderately positive heading into the final month of the year. The big government job reports comes out tomorrow, but we've already had two meaningful data points this week. First off, the ADP jobs number was 208,000. That's less than the 220,000 expected but still in reasonable growth range for new jobs. ADP reports 101,000 of those positions came from small businesses. Meanwhile, initial jobless claims dropped 17,000 from last week to 297,000 overall. That's slightly higher than expected, but a welcome return to sub-300k levels. The 4-week moving average for new claims has been rising, but also remains below 300,000 for now (299,000). Let's see what tomorrow's November jobs report shows. (VIEW LINK) (VIEW LINK)