Initial jobless claims keep grinding lower and lower.
The last time this few Americans sought the help of government after losing a job was in November 1969. Initial Jobless Claims tumbled another 5K from the prior week’s revised 197K to just 192K: the second consecutive sub-200K print in 50 years, and the lowest print since September 1969.
While the number will probably not come as a big surprise in light of the recent sharp rebound in payrolls, the Fed will be hard pressed to explain why it is pausing its rate hikes at a time when the fewest number of Americans are filing for jobless benefits in half a century.
For some context, the last time claims were this low:
- The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” Album hit #1
- Wendy’s Hamburgers, American fast food restaurant chains founded by Dave Thomas opens in Columbus, Ohio
- Alcatraz Island off SF, is seized by militant Native Americans
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
So much for that government shutdown Q1 weakness.
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2PjRVp9 Tyler Durden