Initial jobless claims rose week-over-week to 258,000, higher than the 230,000 mark economists had expected. However, this increase could be attributed to recent events such as Hurricane Helene and the East Coast port workers' strikes.

HSBC chief multi-asset strategist Max Kettner discusses what this data — which coincides with this morning's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September — means for the health of the US economy.

Kettner argues that the print is "getting way too much attention."

"I think when we look at the cracks, there's always going to be cracks. And of course, if the [Federal Reserve] starts hiking from 0 to 5.5, then your weakest credit or delinquency rates in credit cards, delinquencies in mortgages, all of this stuff should be going up. But I think we're focusing way too much on it."

He notes that recent labor revisions painted "an absolutely, uber uber rosy picture" of the economy. While the labor market is getting too much attention, Kettner instead believes that the focus should be on the overall strength of the US economy.

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This post was written by Melanie Riehl