According to the US Labor Department, more people than predicted filed for new jobless claims last week. The street predicted 450,000 new claimants, but the actual number exceeded that number by 6,000. On a positive note however, this still represents a drop of 3,000 from the week before.
Despite this slight decrease in new claim requests, analysts are still fretting over the lack of tangible improvement in the employment numbers.
“The labor market is not as healthy as it should be at this stage of the recovery,” said John Herrmann, senior fixed- income strategist at State Street Global Markets LLC in Boston, who forecast claims at 453,000. “Hiring isn’t ramping up and this means there are downside risks to growth, income and consumption.”
Source: Bloomberg