Today's initial jobless claims came in at 342,000 on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the lowest reading since January 2008. As a result of the improving economy, the US stock market has rallied on the news. The chart below shows where we are in the context of past cycles. Currently, at 342,000, initial jobless claims are still a fair amount above their historical cycle troughs in the 300k range. This suggests the bull market still has legs from a fundamental recovery standpoint. As long as we don't undergo a sharp reversal, we're likely to continue to see an upward trend in the market.
