Quick review of claims data, what Challenger said about hiring trends and productivity
Initial claims remained low at 208k, 3k below expectations and unchanged with the week before. Continuing claims totaled 1.774mm, 16k under the estimate and also unchanged with the week before.
The bottom line here remains the same and on the hiring side, read what Challenger's April jobs data said today.
"U.S. employers announced plans to hire 9,802 workers in April, the lowest total for the month since 9,322 hiring plans were announced in April 2013. For the year, employers have announced plans to hire 46,597 workers, the lowest total in the first four months of the year since 2016, when 38,445 hiring plans were recorded."
Similar though to the low levels of initial claims, "U.S.-based employers announced 64,789 cuts in April, a 28% decrease from the 90,309 cuts announced one month prior. It is down 3.3% from the 66,995 cuts announced in the same month in 2023, according to a report released Thursday from global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. So far this year, companies have announced 322,043 job cuts, down 4.6% from the 337,411 announced through April last year."
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