By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--September 20, 2018
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The number of Americans filing applications for new unemployment benefits fell to a new 49-year low for the third straight week, though Hurricane Florence’s effect on the jobs market remains unclear. Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S., fell by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 201,000 in the week ended Sept. 15, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the lowest level since December 1969, and less than the 210,000 claims economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected. Some economists are trying to explain this away by saying the hurricane kept people from going down to the unemployment office to apply. A more likely factor is that workforce participation is still historically low, and people who aren’t even trying to find work don’t apply for unemployment benefits. But it would be one thing if we got this number in the midst of an economy that didn’t show any other encouraging signs. That is not where we are, though. We’re looking at 4.2 percent GDP growth and 3.8 percent U3 unemployment, along with corporate profits that were 16 percent higher than the year before in the same period. And wages are starting to rise to keep pace with the growth, which is always going to happen when labor is in high demand and low supply. More people are working, earning and spending. That keeps productivity humming and capital forming. Why anyone would want to put Democrats in charge of Congress in the midst of all this happening . . . simply boggles the mind.
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