Initial weekly US jobless claims continue to surge

Weekly US jobless claims continued to surge, in effect wiping out the gains in employment since the last financial crisis.

According to the Department of Labor, over the week ending on 11 April, initial jobless claims fell by 1.37m to hit 5.245m (consensus: -4.5m).

Relative to the pre-pandemic trend of 215,000 initial claims per week, the number of people filing for unemployment benefits had surged by 21.2m, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics pointed out.

The four-week moving average meanwhile was up by 1.241m at 5.509m.

Secondary unemployment claims meanwhile, or those which are not filed for the first time and referencing the week ending on 4 April were 4.53m higher at 11.976m.

Commenting on the latest, Shpeherdson said Google search data for "file for unemployment" pointed to a further slowdown in the pace of firings to 3.5m during the following week,

Nonetheless, while the impact of the lockdown on the consumer-facing side of the economy might now be fading, "supply chains and business-to-business services presumably are being pounded now."