US jobless claims surge by most since 2020
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The news: US initial jobless claimed surged in the week ending 6 December, climbing the most since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The numbers: Initial claims rose by 44,000 to 236,000 during the period, according to data released by the US Labor Department on Thursday, following the lowest level of applications in over three years the week prior.
The gauge’s four-week moving average was less dramatic, ticking up 2,000 to 216,750 last week.
The context: The weekly claims gauge tends to fluctuate around holidays like Thanksgiving and job numbers are expected to remain choppy toward the end of the year.
Meanwhile, data from the Commerce Department released Thursday showed that the US trade deficit shrank in September to its narrowest since mid-2020. The US good and services trade gap shrank almost 11% from August to USD52.8 billion, while the value of US exports rose 3%.
The three-month old figures were delayed due to the 43 day US government shutdown, with agencies still catching up on data that couldn’t be prepared for publication.
In a press conference following the Fed’s policy meeting on Wednesday, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell warned that federal data could be overestimating job creation by up to 60,000 jobs a month. Given that figures published so far show that the economy has added about 40,000 jobs a month since April, the WSJ reported, the real number could be something more like a loss of 20,000 jobs a month, Powell said.
The sources: Department of Labor, Bureau of Economic Analysis, WSJ, Bloomberg
