Initial Jobless Claims At 5-Month Highs As Layoffs Accelerate

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time was 231k last week (down very modestly from an upwardly revised 233k) leaving the 4-week average at the highest since January 2022.

There were 1.328 million continuing claims, very modestly below an upwardly revised 1.331 million last week, but an upward trend remains…

Source: Bloomberg

As a reminder, Deutsche Bank has noted that continuing claims is the best early recession indicator.

In the past week, companies including Netflix Inc. and Tesla Inc. have laid off hundreds of employees amid concerns about the economic outlook.

On an unadjusted basis, initial claims rose to 207,421 last week. That reflected large increases in New Jersey and Massachusetts, while applications in Texas and Georgia declined.