10.7.21
The Labor Department’s 7 October weekly report of the filing of new unemployment claims showed the greatest decrease of the preceding three months, with unadjusted claims falling to 258,909 (326,000 seasonally adjusted). The improvement in claims was more than enough to offset the announced layoffs—52,560 in total and down 23% from the previous quarter—in industries still disrupted by supply chain problems, like auto assembly plants and warehouse businesses, and high-contact service sectors. According to Lydia Boussour, lead U.S. economist at Oxford Economics in New York, current labor conditions and “an improving COVID outlook should spur further labor market progress.”