US unemployment claims were steady during latest week
By Alexander Bueso
Date: Thursday 22 Jun 2023
(Sharecast News) - There was scant change in the degree of tightness in the US jobs market last week.
According to the US Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms the number of initial unemployment claims remained at 264,000 during the week finishing on 17 June.
However, the prior week's tally was revised marginally higher by 2,000.
The four-week moving average on the other hand increased by 8,500 to 255,750.
Secondary unemployment claims, which are those not being filed for the first time and referencing the week until 10 June, slipped by 13,000 to 1.759m.
Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the 'bigger picture' was that the financing environment had changed for companies, what with working capital costs having risen by 500 basis points versus a year before and now being harder to get.
For smaller businesses, in particular, hat ought to be pushing up layoffs now, he surmised.
"We expect claims to rise further over the summer, but beware of volatility in late June and July, thanks to the difficulty of seasonally adjusting the numbers during and after the annual automakers' retooling shutdowns.
"Focus on the trend, not the weekly numbers."
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