Last week, just 187,000 people in the US filed for initial unemployment benefits claims, a near 53-year low, according to the US Department of Labor. These initial jobless filings are down 28,000, compared to the previous week, and they're at their lowest level since Sept. 6, 1969, when 182,000 people filed initial jobless claims. 

The filings surprised experts polled by Reuters, who forecasted that 212,000 initial filings would be made last week.

Throughout the Federal Reserve's last handful of press briefings, Chair Jerome Powell has consistently reported that the labor market is strong, with layoffs at 30 year lows and wages rising faster than prior years. The Labor Department's new data is now aligned with that view. 

More to come.