Because of the holiday, they issued the initial unemployment claims a day early.
So, initial claims fell and continuing claims rose.
As you can see from the graph, continuing claims have continued to rise, indicating the general weakness of hiring.
Applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week, highlighting the seasonal swings in the data at this time of year.
………
Initial claims decreased by 10,000 to 214,000 in the week ended Dec. 20, according to Labor Department data released Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 224,000 applications.
Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.92 million in the previous week, rebounding from a significant decline at the end of last month.
Overall, Wednesday’s figures are consistent with a labor market seeing relatively low layoffs, a trend that has remained intact throughout the year despite heightened economic uncertainty. While multiple large employers, including PepsiCo Inc. and HP Inc., have announced job cuts recently, those plans have yet to translate into a notable pickup in actual layoffs.
That's probably note the headline economic news though (Yes, I'm burying the lede) is that GDP in the 3rd quarter rose more than expected, along with growing consumer spending and declining consumer confidence, (Yeah, I have no bloody clue what is going on here)
Today’s GDP report, delayed by the government shutdown, was the “initial” report for the third quarter. Data collection for it occurred before the government shutdown. It replaces the “advance estimate,” which got canceled due to the shutdown at the time, and the “second estimate” (originally scheduled for November 26). So this release is essentially the “second estimate” and includes the revisions that would have been part of the second estimate.
And WHOOSH went the economy in Q3. Gross Domestic Product, the broadest measure of the economy, grew by an annual rate of 4.3% in Q3, adjusted for inflation, after the 3.8% growth in Q2, and the -0.7% decline in Q1, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis today.
By comparison, in the years between the Great Recession and the pandemic (so excluding recessions), average quarter-to-quarter GDP growth was 2.5% annual rate. The average 20-year quarter-to-quarter GDP growth, including recessions, was 2.2% annual rate.
The decline in Q1 had been driven by an explosion of imports due to tariff frontrunning. Imports deduct from GDP; exports add to GDP. But that frontrunning of tariffs in Q1 and other trade shifts due to tariffs caused a dramatic improvement of the trade deficit in Q2 and Q3, from the horrible levels of Q1, contributing substantially to the high growth rates in both quarters.
Consumers also pitched in and spent hand over fist, despite their allegedly very sour mood as depicted by these silly consumer sentiment surveys. Consumer spending, adjusted for inflation jumped by 3.5%, the highest since the red-hot quarters last year.
As to the specific numbers on consumers, consumer confidence fell by 3.1 points to 89.1, but consumer spending rose sharply, though a lot of that appears to be medical spending, which might indicate a surge in medical inflation.
As to my take on what is going on? No clue.
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