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.”
Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist at CFRA Research, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell where he dives into the factors contributing to Monday's market plunge and what could be in store when February's CPI data comes out on Tuesday.
Country music fans watching the Academy of Country Music Awards tonight will be doing so in a different way than years past. The ceremony will not be broadcast on network TV and will air exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. This will be the first time a major awards show will be live-streamed exclusively on a subscription video-on-demand platform. Shelly Kramer, co-founder and lead analyst of Futurum Research, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis is doing more than just sending the price of oil skyrocketing — it's also impacting the electric vehicle sector thanks to rising prices of key metals and materials necessary for battery and EV production. How can the relatively new industry steel itself as prices rise and consumers potentially lose what little interest they had in making the switch to an electric car? John Loehr, managing director of AlixPartners Automotive and Industrial Practice, joins Closing Bell to discuss.
Atomic bills itself as an investing API that allows fintechs and banks to easily integrate investing into their products by bringing the power of investing to everyone, with no account minimums. In November, the company announced its launch along with a $25 million Series A funding round. David Dindi, co-founder and CEO of Atomic, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Apple is set to unveil a new fleet of tech and services at its Peek Performance event on Tuesday. Luke Miani, a content creator, joined Cheddar News to discuss what might be expected to get unveiled, from mid-range Mac desktops to 5G service for the iPhone SE. "As 5G becomes more available and these products continue to be used, these are the types of features that consumers really need to see going forward," he said.
Americans continue to feel the pain at the pump as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, joined Cheddar News to discuss how prices are being affected by the war and how much worse it could potentially get for drivers. "It's obviously a fluid situation. In one field today, I might feel differently in a half hour. But for now, I think we could see the national average realistically go somewhere into the mid $4 range, maybe $4.40 to $4.65 based on what we're seeing," he said.
Verizon recently unveiled its new streaming hub management service called +Play to help its users bundle their myriad streaming platforms in one place. Manon Brouillette, CEO of Verizon Consumer Group, joined Cheddar News to explain the new portal. "There is a proliferation of subscription models with any type of industry, and when we asked our customers, we realized that there was a pain point there. They were losing track of how many subscription services they were paying every month," she said.
