So far, so good. Jobless claims dropped last week by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, or near the five-year low of 327,000 for the week through April 27. The fact that new filings for unemployment benefits continue to stay close ...
So far, so good. Jobless claims dropped last week by 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, or near the five-year low of 327,000 for the week through April 27. The fact that new filings for unemployment benefits continue to stay close to the cyclical trough is an encouraging signal for anticipating that modest growth in the labor market will continue for the near term. Adding a bit of support for thinking positively is today's Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for May, which shows that the sector is still growing, albeit at a slower rate this month.The trend deceleration in the PMI data would be troubling if the labor market was showing clear signs of distress. But jobless claims suggest otherwise. As the first chart shows, claims are still trending lower, which suggests that the economy will continue to mint new jobs a modest pace.