The number of Americans filing unemployment benefits jumped by 21,000 from the previous week to 211,000 on the week ending March 4th, the most since December 2022 and well above market expectations of 195,000. The latest value was the first upside surprise in one month, diverging from a series of labor data that underscored a stubbornly tight job market and hinting that labor conditions could start to soften. The four-week moving average, which removes week-to-week volatility, rose by 4,000 to 197,000. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, claims rose by 35,357 to 237,513 with notable increases in North Carolina (+16,364) and California (+10,489). source: U.S. Department of Labor
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/jobless-claims
Futures up, treasury yields down. This gives the Fed an off-ramp for 0.50% at next FOMC (a much needed off-ramp IMO).
Is the increase in jobless claims a blip, or start of something bigger?
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