No Unemployment Help From Weekly Jobless Claims
The U.S. Labor Department has reported that weekly jobless claims came in unchanged from the prior week at 370,000. The prior week’s reading was revised from a preliminary report of 367,000 up to a slightly higher 370,000. Dow Jones had…
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In an effort to smooth out the volatility, the four-week average fell by 4,750 to 375,000.
The army of unemployed, measured by the continuing claims and reported with a one-week lag, rose by 18,000 to 3,265,000.
Today’s data is effectively an ‘unemployment-neutral’ report. Of course, if the Labor Department keeps up with its policy of not counting those who are no longer participating in the labor force then the unemployment rate could continue coming down.
JON C. OGG
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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.