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.”
Elaine Low, Senior Entertainment Business Reporter at Insider
joins Cheddar News to discuss the Animation Guild's upcoming contract negotiations, hoping to close pay gap with live-action counterparts.
Sam Burd, president of Dell Technologies Client Solutions Group, joined Cheddar to talk about the firm's Q3 earnings beat and what consumers can expect from the tech company in the future. He noted a return to offices alongside the overall change to how people work as sources for the earnings beat. Burd also discussed how the company has been able to navigate the ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage.
Matt Peron, Director of Research at Janus Henderson Investors, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he breaks down the factors leading to today's market slide and says there's more to it than Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments about speeding up tapering efforts.
The United Nations Secretary-General said this year that his agency's warning about climate change was a 'code red for humanity.' So how will political pledges to lower emissions, increase green energy, and ramp up electric vehicle infrastructure play out, and can we reverse some climate damage next year? Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Global energy & climate innovation editor for The Economist, and host of 'To a Lesser Degree,' The Economist’s podcast on climate change, joins Cheddar Climate to discuss what we can look ahead to in 2022, including global policy shifts and investments from the private and public sectors, holding global leaders accountable, and more.
In recent years, extreme weather events like flooding and wildfires have become more frequent, and more severe - and scientists say global warming is to blame. Climate crises could leave people in need of help, and that's where Global Rescue steps in. The crisis response firm employs former Navy Seals and Army Rangers to rescue travelers from climate-related emergencies. Global Rescue CEO Dan Richards joins Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Cloud-based AI-powered writing assistant Grammarly recently raised $200 million in a funding round that values the company at $13 billion. The funding will be used to help Grammarly achieve its goal of becoming more ubiquitous, as the company says it wants to be the go-to writing assistant for wherever people type. Grammarly also says it aims to solve what it calls one of the most critical problems facing people and businesses today -- ineffective communication. Grammarly global head of product Rahul Roy-Chowdhury joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The Competition and Markets Authority in the UK moved to block Facebook parent company Meta from acquiring the image sharing platform Giphy after saying advertisers and consumers would be adversely impacted. Hatem Dhiab, managing partner at Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment, joined Cheddar to break down the decision and noted that the CMA's order could also halt other big tech firms from making similar purchases in the future. "I think this is going to be true for Facebook, it's going to happen for other big tech companies — Amazon, perhaps Google, so it's interesting that the UK is starting this wave," he said.
