On “Making Money,” Piper Sandler Chief Global Economist Nancy Lazar discusses whether the U.S. economy is doing as well as earnings suggest.
How many Americans are applying? Unemployment benefits Last week’s weaker-than-expected employment report came in, which may ease some concerns about the health of the labor market following disappointing July employment data.
The figures announced Thursday Initial jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 3 fell by 17,000 to 233,000, below the 240,000 forecast by economists polled by Refinitiv, but still higher than the pre-pandemic 2019 average of 218,000.
Continuing claims by Americans who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits reached 1.87 million in the week ended July 27, up 6,000 from the previous week. This is the highest level of continuing claims since November 2021.
“Investors should be careful not to overinterpret one report, as they did with the recent jobs report,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial. “The overall picture for the labor market suggests hiring will likely slow for the rest of the year, creating downside risks to income growth.”
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
