Yesterday, initial unemployment claims fell from 241,000 to 225000, with the 4-week moving average rising by 1,750 to 228,750 and continuing claims rising 57,000 to 1,610,000.
It's best described as not bad, and not good.
Unfortunately, this means that the Federal Reserve will continue its efforts to short circuit the jobs market, because, despite wage increases lagging inflation, their solution for anything is to put more people out of work.
This is particularly likely since non farm payroll rose by 263,000, about 50% more than what would accommodate natural growth in the labor market.
Meanwhile, consumer spending rose slightly and household spending fell a lot, so the rate hikes are not putting too much money in people's pockets, and hiring remained difficult, and the worker shortage has eased slightly, and 3rd quarter GDP was revised upward.
It should be noted that worker turnover, the so-called JOLTS report, has been falling steadily, and that if we were in the wage-price spiral we would not be seeing this.
I'm not saying that the Fed should put their foot on the accelerator, but they should ease off on the brakes.
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