– by a New Deal Democrat
The past few months have seen an almost relentlessly slow increase in new jobless claims. That trend has broken, at least for this week.
Initial jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 250,000. More importantly, the 4-week average also fell by 2,750 to 246,750. Continuing claims rose by 7,000 to 1,437,000, the highest level since April :
Claims are on track to be higher year-over-year in November, which would signal an impending recession; but with this week’s report, that trend *might* be bucking – to the good side.