Initial Claims
Imports/Exports.Inflation
Wages and Productivity Initial claims are flat, and continuing claims rose slightly.
New hiring? Not so much.
The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week and layoffs dropped sharply in February, consistent with stable labor market conditions.
While other data from the Labor Department on Thursday showed worker productivity slowed in the fourth quarter, the trend remained strong, helping to curb growth in labor costs in 2025. Labor market stability and rising inflation risks from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran reinforced economists' views that the Federal Reserve was in no rush to resume cutting interest rates.
………Initial claims for state unemployment benefits were flat at a seasonally adjusted 213,000 for the week ended February 28. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 215,000 claims for the latest week. The unchanged reading was despite unadjusted filings in New York shooting up 17,434 as the state reeled from a massive winter storm.
………The import duties have since been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump responded to the ruling by imposing a 10% global tariff and later announced it would rise to 15%.
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Hiring plans soared 140% from January, but they were down 63% compared to last February. Tepid hiring means some people who lose their jobs are experiencing long bouts of unemployment.
The number of people receiving unemployment benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased 46,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.868 million during the week ended February 21, the claims report showed. The data does not include unemployed recent college graduates, whose lack of or limited work history disqualifies them from claiming jobless benefits.
We'll have the unemployment rate tomorrow.
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