The jobless claims for unemployment benefits come out each week. Because of its frequency and its focus on those people losing jobs it is considered a good leading economic indicator. The most recent week’s claims rose to 239,000 from 229,000 the week before. However, any claims below 300,000 is considered a low number.
As always it is the trend that you watch for as an investor. Is the trend for claims rising or falling? For now you would have to say they are steady at a fairly low number, meaning the economy is running at a sustainable pace. There is no fear that employers are looking to layoff or are in the process of laying off workers.
If you want to see if workers are secure in their jobs look at the monthly wage and spending reports. Currently, the economy looks to be hitting on all cylinders without overheating. If it were, the Fed would put more and faster pressure upward on interest rates. They seem to be unconcerned. Then again they have said they have no idea why inflation is so low so maybe they are not as smart as many think they are.
