The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a five-month low last week, but stock markets reacted in line with a “good news is bad news” paradigm and resumed their sharp selloff as the strong labor market data suggests the Federal Reserve is likely to stay the course on hiking rates aggressively to fight inflation.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 193,000 for the week ended Sept. 24, the Labor Department said in a report (pdf) on Sept. 29. That’s the lowest level in weekly filings since late April and below the pre-pandemic average of around 218,000….