The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell for the sixth straight week as the U.S. economy, held back for months by the coronavirus pandemic, reopens rapidly.
Jobless claims fell by 9,000 to 376,000 from 385,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The number of people signing up for benefits exceeded 900,000 in early January and has fallen more or less steadily ever since. Still, claims are high by historic standards. Before the pandemic brought economic activity to a near-standstill in March 2020, weekly applications were regularly coming in below 220,000.
Nearly 3.5 million people were receiving traditional state unemployment benefits the week of May 29, down by 258,000 from 3.8 million the week before.
Businesses are reopening rapidly as the rollout of vaccines allows Americans to feel more comfortable returning to restaurants, bars and shops. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that job openings hit a record 9.3 million in April. Layoffs dropped to 1.4 million, lowest in records dating back to 2000; 4 million quit their jobs in April, another record and a sign that they are confident enough in their prospects to try something new.
“As life normalizes and the service sector continues to gain momentum, we expect initial jobless claims to continue to trend lower,″ said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at the economic and financial consulting firm Maria Fiorini Ramirez, Inc.
In May, the U.S. economy generated 559,000 million new jobs, and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.8% from 6.1% in April. Many economists expected to see even faster job growth. The United States is still short 7.6 million jobs from where it stood in February 2020.
But employers are posting vacancies faster than would-be applicants can fill them. Many Americans are contending with health and childcare issues related to COVID-19 and with career uncertainty after the coronavirus recession wiped out many jobs for good. Some are taking their time looking for work because expanded federal jobless benefits pay more than their old jobs.
Many states are scheduled to begin dropping the federal benefits this month. Altogether, 15.3 million people were receiving some type of jobless aid the week of May 22; a year earlier, the number exceeded 30 million.
Citi recently began collaborating with fitness entrepreneur Tracy Anderson to promote its Custom Cash Credit card. Pam Habner, CEO of U.S. Branded Cards for Citi, along with Tracy Anderson, creator of The Tracy Anderson Method, joined Cheddar to discuss how health and fitness matched up with a cash back credit card. "The fact that Citi is going 'hey if you lead a healthy lifestyle, we're going to help you out. We understand that it's more expensive and we're going to give you cash back for living your best life,'" Anderson said about the partnership, which also includes a custom promotional Spotify playlist.
Stocks closed lower Thursday amid continued volatility. The S&P 500 was down 10% from its record high, the Dow was down 7%, and the Nasdaq was 4% away from bear market territory as it closed 16% below its record high. Investors are still processing this week's Federal Reserve announcement about a potential first rate hike in March. Chris Gaffney, President of World Markets at TIAA Bank, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, the Fed's announcement, predictions about interest rate hikes, and more.
Low-code app development platform Crowdbotics raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by Jackson Square Ventures. Crowdbotics has helped more than 14,000 customers launch apps without having to learn how to code. The company can offer a team of expert developers to help companies launch custom apps, or provide the means for companies to develop apps themselves. Crowdbotics CEO Anand Kulkarni joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Comcast announced that the company has beaten its projected earnings for Q4. However, the telecommunications giant fell short of its predictions for customer growth.
Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand Skims has doubled its valuation to $3.2 billion. Investors have taken a bet on the success of this brand in the form of fresh funds for the two-year-old company.
McDonald's missed on both the top and bottom lines in its Q4 earnings, marking the fourth loss for the fast-food giant in the past eight quarters. It comes as higher costs from food to wages ate into the blue-chip company's profits. George Seay, CEO of investment advisor Annandale Capital, joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss the recent numbers and the better-than-expected success of the McPlant burger made with plant-based Beyond Meat. "They're changing with the times, and they have to," Seay noted. "You can just sell a Big Mac to everybody. There's a lot of people who don't want to eat a Big Mac anymore."
