Initial jobless claims remain extremely tame on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.
The 2024 path is tracking almost exactly along the average of 2023, 2019, 2018, and 2017.
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The 52-week average of jobless claims edged higher this week and is higher than the cycle low-point in February 2023 but has trended down most of 2024.
The insured unemployment rate, however, while low, continues to edge higher slowly.
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Layoffs remain low, but hiring is very weak, which is consistent with the initial increase in unemployment.
The 52wk average of initial claims is 3.9% off the cycle low.
Plotting the change in Federal Reserve interest rate policy before and after a trigger of the Sahm Rule.
Thread.
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The Sahm rule was triggered in the July Employment Situation Report.
Historically, the Sahm rule has been a slightly lagging indicator, meaning the trigger dates occur after a recession has already started.
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In this thread, we won’t address whether a recession has started or not but rather look at historical changes in the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy around historical Sahm rule trigger dates.
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Q2 GDP was boosted by equipment investment, specifically transportation equipment.
We've previously discussed how important these cyclical sectors are in driving the ebbs and flows of the overall Business Cycle.
Auto equipment investment has fallen out of sync with the other cyclical sectors, a unique feature of this cycle as the auto sector was the most badly impacted by supply chain issues in 2021 and 2022.