Employment
A separate report from the Labor Department on Thursday showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 to 205,000 at a seasonally adjusted rate for the week ending Jan. 7. Economists expected 215,000 applications for the last week.
Part of the surprise drop in orders reflects challenges adjusting data for seasonal fluctuations early in the year.
However, applications have remained low despite high-profile layoffs in the technology industry, as well as job cuts in interest rate-sensitive sectors such as finance and housing.
The claims report also showed that the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, fell by 63,000 to 1.634 million in the week ending Dec. 31.
Monetary politics
Philadelphia Federal Reserve Chairman Patrick Harker has said the final stage of the central bank’s rate-hike campaign is in sight.
“I’ve been convinced that we need to have rates above 5%,” Harker said in remarks to a group in Malvern, Pennsylvania.
But he added that “I don’t think we need to go much beyond 5%.” The Fed’s current interest rate target rate is between 4.25% and 4.5%.
