Jobless claims rose to 334k (consensus 320k) last week, to the highest level since April. The four week average is now up to 325k. Year-to-date, initial claims have averaged 318k versus 313k in 2006.
Claims are watched as a high-frequency indicator of economic health for the economy. Rising claims indicate rising unemployment. Layoffs in housing industries are accelerating. Financial companies announced almost 21k layoffs in August. So far this year, Challenger, Gray & Christmas say layoffs in the construction, real estate and financial institutions have totaled 57.5K.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment