Initial & Continuing Jobless Claims Accelerate As Layoffs Soar

The number of Americans who filed for unemployment claims for the first time rose to 235k last week, up from the 231k the prior week. The 4-week average is now at 232.5k – the highest since the first week of December…

Source: Bloomberg

Additionally as the chart above shows, continuing claims – some have said the most important recession indicator – has started to accelerate higher (from 1.324mm to 1.375mm last week – well above the 1.328mm expected)

New York, Michigan, and California saw the largest rise in claims while Illinois and Kentucky saw the largest drops last week…

Something snapped in the labor market last month, as Challenger’s data shows US Job Cuts rose a stunning 58.8% YoY…

Source: Bloomberg

And if the ISM surveys (from both the Services and Manufacturing sides of the economy) are to be believed, things are about to get rather ugly for claims data… and the labor market overall…

Source: Bloomberg

And yet tomorrow’s payroll print is still expected to be +250k?