Jobless Claims Held Steady Last Week
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits was largely unchanged last week , the Labor Department reported on Thursday .The report follows Wednesday’s monthly survey from private payroll services firm ADP that showed 239,000 jobs created in October . And it comes a day before the monthly jobs report from the Labor Department expected to show 190,000 jobs were added in October following the 263,000 increase in September .The job market remains tight, although there has been some easing since earlier this year. On Tuesday, the government said that 10.7 million job openings existed at the end of September , an increase of 1 million from the forecasts.Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the labor market remains “out of balance” as he explained why the central bank will need to continue raising interest rates beyond the 75 basis points hike it approved this week.
But some private observers say the labor market may be softening more than is evident in some of the government data.“While private-sector wage growth eased 0.5ppt to 5.2% y/y, Fed Chair Powell said that the “broader picture is that of an overheated labor market where demand exceeds supply” and where there isn’t any obvious softening of the labor market,” EY Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco said in a statement following the Fed’ s announcement.“However, our conversations with executives across a broad range of sectors indicates an impending softening of labor market dynamics with strategic cutbacks on hiring, strategic layoffs and attrition as a formula to right-size talent pools,” Daco added. “As such, we wouldn’t be surprised by a negative monthly nonfarm payrolls print before year-end.”
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits was largely unchanged last week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.
The report follows Wednesday’s monthly survey from private payroll services firm ADP that showed 239,000 jobs created in October. And it comes a day before the monthly jobs report from the Labor Department expected to show 190,000 jobs were added in October following the 263,000 increase in September. ,” EY Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco said in a statement following the Fed’ s announcement.
“However, our conversations with executives across a broad range of sectors indicates an impending softening of labor market dynamics with strategic cutbacks on hiring, strategic layoffs and attrition as a formula to right-size talent pools,” Daco added.
