Is the labor market headed for a fresh round of trouble? Today’s weekly jobless claims report provides some new motivation for going over to the dark side on this question. The usual caveat applies, of course: divining the future from any one number in this volatile series can be misleading. Unfortunately, the jump in new filings for unemployment benefits is no longer an isolated data point.
Daily Archives: April 28, 2011
Damned If You Speak, Damned If You Don’t
Ben Bernanke’s performance at the Federal Reserve’s historic first-ever press conference succeeded in pleasing no one while further stoking criticism from all sides. Perhaps that was inevitable. There was almost zero chance that one more prepared speech, or even taking questions from the press like a run-of-the-mill politician, would change deeply entrenched views about what the Fed could or couldn’t do. But the former Princeton professor gave it a shot.