Unemployment Claims Fall in Sign of Tightening Job Market

In a sign of a tightening job market, unemployment claims fell in the week up to August 2 to 289,000 from the previous week where it was 303,000.

This number was below the important 300,000 level, telling the story of a recovery is under way, despite headwinds.

During the worst part of the 2009 recession, filed claims reached as many as 659,000 in one week.

This is the second time that the unemployment numbers came in under 300,000 in a month. However the numbers still demonstrated some volatility in the number of layoffs, with some weeks going over the closely watched 300,000 level. 

While the unemployment rate is 6.2%, the Fed has stated that there still too many long-term unemployed and still many who have been discouraged from looking for work..

At the moment externals are being watched closely, including Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and the tit-for-tat sanctions with the West, the renewed Israel-Gaza conflict, the march of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the Ebola pandemic in West Africa.  These externals have certainly soured the mood for stocks in the last two weeks.