Unemployment claims

I keep waiting for indications that the labor market is finally catching up to the goods market, but I keep being disappointing. The Department of Labor reports that initial jobless claims were up (a bit) again last week. Consensus forecast for employment growth in January is +15,000, which is a continuation of the slow upward trend but not extraordinary news. I'll be more confident that my optimism over the last few months is being vindicated if it's more like +50,000.