Filings for unemployment benefits inched higher last week, and the new five-and-a-half-year low in the previous report evaporated with a modest upward revision. As it turns out, claims for the week through July 27 only matched the previous low, established for the week through May 4, 2013. But don’t let this statistical shuffling divert you from the main takeaway: new claims continue to trend lower, which is a positive sign for the labor market and the economy.
Daily Archives: August 8, 2013
Don’t Confuse Uncertainty With Risk (Or Diamonds With Coal)
There’s been a mini bull market in discussions about uncertainty lately, thanks to the recent drop in the so-called Economic Policy Uncertainty Index. “‘Uncertainty’ isn’t a problem anymore,” declares The Washington Post’s Wonkblog, which Paul Krugman references by noting that “the index of uncertainty that everyone was pointing to has plunged, with no visible boost to the economy.”