"U.S. applications for unemployment benefits in the week ending Nov. 22 dropped 6,000 from the previous week to 216,000, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The figure is below the 230,000 forecast by economists, according to a survey by data provider FactSet. Applications for unemployment aid are seen as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market."
"The job cuts announced recently by large companies such as UPS and Amazon typically take weeks or months to fully implement and may not yet be reflected in the claims data. The four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, dropped 1,000 to 223,750. For now, the U.S. job market appears stuck in a "low-hire, low-fire" state that has kept the unemployment rate historically low, but has left those out of work struggling to find a new job."
Weekly initial jobless claims declined by 6,000 to 216,000 for the week ending Nov. 22, below economist forecasts, while the four-week moving average fell to 223,750. Applications act as a near-term proxy for layoffs, but recent large-company cuts often take weeks or months to affect claims. Continuing claims rose to about 1.96 million, suggesting longer durations out of work. Hiring showed modest gains in September, yet employers also shed jobs in August and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. Slowing retail sales, plunging consumer confidence, and easing wholesale inflation suggest cooling economic and inflationary momentum.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]