Jobless Claims Fall Below 300,000

I’m on the road today but I wanted to give you a quick update on the markets. This morning’s jobless claims came in at 293,000. That’s a new pandemic low. That’s also the first time we’ve broken below 300,000 in 20 months. Wall Street had been expecting 318,000.

The drop in claims comes at an important time for the labor market, which has added jobs over the past two months at a decidedly slower-than-expected pace – 366,000 in August and 194,000 in September, leaving the household employment total still more than 5 million shy of where it was pre-pandemic.

Thursday’s jobless claims report covered the period just before the Labor Department’s survey week for the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report.

Federal Reserve officials have been watching the job market’s progress closely as the central bank weighs when to begin pulling back on the extraordinary help it’s been providing. Minutes released Wednesday from the Fed’s September meeting indicated that the first pullback could start as early as mid-November with a reduction in the amount of bonds it buys each month.

We’re also getting the first earnings reports this week. Usually, the big banks go first. Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C) and Morgan Stanley (MS) reported earnings and all beat expectations.

Morgan Stanley earned $1.98 per share which beat by 30 cents per share. Wells Fargo made $1.17 which topped expectations of $1 per share. Bank of America made 85 cents per share versus a 71-cent estimate. Citigroup made $2.15 per share which beat by 50 cents.

Posted by on October 14th, 2021 at 12:30 pm


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