Source: MarketWatch
“Jobless claims are the early-warning radar for the U.S. economy, and they still show no trouble on the horizon. The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in middle of December fell to 220,000 from a holiday-exaggerated 242,000 in the prior week, the government said Thursday. New jobless claims — a rough gauge of layoffs — have hovered in the low 200,000s for the better part of the last three years. Companies have been unwilling to shed many workers because of steady economic growth and persistent shortages of labor that make it hard to fill open jobs. One big caveat about jobless claims: The government’s seasonal adjustments during the holiday shopping season, which starts around Thanksgiving, are less accurate than usual. Sometimes the adjustments exaggerate the shift in jobless claims.” (12/19/24)