The US economy contracted in the beginning of the year at a much faster pace than previously reported, after new data factored in much weaker consumer spending. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, registered an annualized rate of -0.5% from January through March, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its third and final estimate. That's worse than the 0.2% decline reported in the second estimate. GDP is adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation. The latest estimate showed that consumer spending " the lifeblood of the US economy " was tepid in the beginning of the year. Spending in the first quarter grew at a rate of just 0.5%, down from 1.2% in an earlier estimate. That's the weakest rate in more than four years.
A separate report showed that unemployed Americans are having an increasingly harder time finding work. Fresh data released Thursday morning by the Labor Department showed the number of people receiving jobless benefits for at least one week rose by 37,000 to 1.974 million, marking the highest total since November 6, 2021.
@#5
US labor market softening as more people remain on unemployment rolls
www.reuters.com
... Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 236,000 for the week ended June 21, the Labor Department said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 245,000 claims for the latest week.
The data included last week's Juneteenth National Independence Day holiday, which likely injected a downward bias.
Cutting through the technical distortions, layoffs have picked up amid headwinds from the import duties.
The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, jumped 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.974 million during the week ending June 14, the highest level since November 2021, the claims report showed. ...
Recent college grads seem to be having a particularly rough time finding a job, apparently facing headwinds from both the economy and AI.
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