Weekly Jobless Claims Heads Wrong Way from 400,000 Mark
The U.S. Labor Department has just turned in its report on weekly jobless claims and the most recent data shows another gain and another week above 400,000…. the new data is 418,000 versus a revised figure of 408,000 the prior…
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The prior week was originally turned in as being 405,000 and the estimate from Bloomberg for today’s data was 415,000 in weekly jobless claims.
The four-week average, the volatility smoothing figure, came in down 2,750 at 421,250 for the week.
One area we continue to dwell on is the army of unemployed measured by the continuing jobless claims. That figure came down 50,000 to 3,698,000 from the prior period.
It is hard to look at anything being “good” in the jobs market today. As long 400,000 is the floor, a real unemployment rate improvement seems fleeting.
JON C. OGG
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.