Jobless claims decreased 3,000 to 192,000 in the week ended February 18 after remaining unchanged the previous week, reflecting a surprising resilience of the labor market in the face of ongoing layoff announcements, especially in the tech sector. Forecasts in an Econoday survey had centered on 200,000, with the lowest at 195,000.

Despite the lower-than-expected showing of the February 18 week, the four-week average increased to 191,250 from 189,750.

Continuing claims fell 37,000 in lagging data for the February 11 week to 1.654 million, bringing down the unemployment rate for insured workers to 1.1 percent from 1.2 percent.

While jobs data continue to remind the Federal Reserve that its fight against inflation is far from over, the preliminary GDP for the fourth quarter was lower than expected at an annual rate of 2.7 percent, with personal consumption expenditure growth slowing to 1.4 percent, also below expectations.

With today's data, Econoday Consensus Divergence Index stands at 2, indicative of an economy that is performing in line with expectations.

Jobless claims for the February 18 week are expected to come in at 200,000 versus 194,000 in the prior week.

New unemployment claims are compiled weekly to show the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. An increasing (decreasing) trend suggests a deteriorating (improving) labor market. The four-week moving average of new claims smooths out weekly volatility.

Jobless claims are an easy way to gauge the strength of the job market. The fewer people filing for unemployment benefits, the more have jobs, and that tells investors a great deal about the economy. Nearly every job comes with an income that gives a household spending power. Spending greases the wheels of the economy and keeps it growing, so a stronger job market generates a healthier economy.

There's a downside to it, though. Unemployment claims, and therefore the number of job seekers, can fall to such a low level that businesses have a tough time finding new workers. They might have to pay overtime wages to current staff, use higher wages to lure people from other jobs, and in general spend more on labor costs because of a shortage of workers. This leads to wage inflation, which is bad news for the stock and bond markets. Federal Reserve officials are always on the look-out for inflationary pressures.

By tracking the number of jobless claims, investors can gain a sense of how tight, or how loose, the job market is. If wage inflation looks threatening, it's a good bet that interest rates will rise, bond and stock prices will fall, and the only investors in a good mood will be the ones who tracked jobless claims and adjusted their portfolios to anticipate these events.

Just remember, the lower the number of unemployment claims, the stronger the job market, and vice versa.