Americans applied for fewer unemployment benefits at the end of 2019, the Labor Department announced Thursday. The number dropped by 2,000 to 222,000 in the seven days up until December 28, although the four-week average ticked up by 4,750 to 233,250.
The report beat expectations that had predicted 225,000 new claims, according to Reuters. The result marks the third consecutive weekly decline.
“I think we’re definitely going to see slightly smaller growth month by month than what we saw in 2019 and that’s consistent with economists expectations’ of the macroeconomy weakening slightly,” in the labor market, Beth Akers, Manhattan Institute senior fellow, told Cheddar.
She will be keeping an eye on manufacturing trends and changes in policy regarding trade for indications about how job numbers will grow (or shrink) in 2020.
“If you’re looking to something to be concerned about, you can look at the four-week moving average, which is up from what it’s been over the course of the year,” Akers said. “But, by and large, these are really strong, positive numbers for the labor market.”
Amazon said Tuesday it launched a new service that will allow customers to purchase physical products while playing video games or interacting in virtual reality.
Some people have a large single stock position from a company they used to work at... but not everyone knows what to do with it. Gina DeRaimo, SVP, Head of The Options Institute at Cboe Global Markets, joins Cheddar News to break down what you can do with large stock positions.
Professional networking platform LinkedIn says it's laying off more than 700 workers and shuttering its China jobs app, in the latest round of tech industry downsizing.
Tyson Foods suffered a surprise loss in the second quarter, something not since 2009, and cut its sales forecast due to the cost of plant closures and layoffs.
