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A cooling US economy points to swifter rate cuts
We have had quite a lot of US data today, starting with initial jobless claims, which rose to 218k last week, from an upwardly revised 211k (initially reported as 209k). Continuing claims surged though to 1927k up from 1841k. There have been questions over seasonal adjustment issues and data volatility, but the trend is certainly towards higher continuing claims while initial claims remain low. Essentially, the message is that firms are reluctant to fire workers, but they are less inclined to hire new workers. i.e. more evidence of a cooling, but not collapsing, labour market. This was also the message within ... (full story)