Initial Jobless Claims, which measures individuals filing for unemployment benefits for the first time, rose 4,000 to 232,000 but this figure is still lower than some of the readings last month. This applied some pressure to the Bond market, as it shows there are less firings happening but a lot of the other labor data are showing weakness. This week’s report encapsulates the sample week that the BLS uses in their Jobs Report modeling, and from this one component, it will likely help job growth figures.
Continuing Claims, which measures individuals continuing to receive benefits after their initial claim, rose 4,000 to 1.863M, still hovering near the highest level in almost three years. This metric continues to show that once someone is let go, it’s harder to get a job because of less hiring.
What’s the bottom line? Both Initial and Continuing Claims have trended higher this summer when compared to the start of the year, with Continuing Claims topping 1.8M each week since the start of June. This shows that the pace of layoffs over the last two months has picked up at the same time employers have slowed down hiring.