Initial jobless claims fell to 229k from 234k last week. That is below the estimate of 235k and brings the 4 week average to 233k from 240k. Processing claims in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands is still an issue but ex this has firing’s at a very modest rate still. Continuing claims fell by 15k to a fresh 44 year low.
Productivity in Q3 was a better than expected 3% q/o/q annualized vs the estimate of 2.6%. On a y/o/y basis it was higher by 1.5% which is a better way of analyzing this. This brings the 4 quarter average to 1.2% which is still very modest but the best since 2015. The very long term average in productivity is 2% for comparison purposes. Some will argue that the stat doesn’t accurately measure productivity with all the current technology we have but remember that we have a history of technological advancements that have made our lives much more productive. Unit labor costs remained very modest as they fell .1% y/o/y after a .2% drop in Q2. Compensation per hour did rise 1.4% y/o/y vs 1.1% last quarter but more output helped to limit unit labor costs. This helps to keep corporate profit margins elevated.
There was no response in US Treasuries while the US dollar is mostly lower except against the pound as neither of these numbers tend to be market moving when released.
Peter is the Chief Investment Officer at Bleakley Advisory Group and is a CNBC contributor. Each day The Boock Report provides summaries and commentary on the macro data and news that matter, with analysis of what it all means and how it fits together.