⁍ The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week but remained at recession levels.
⁍ Personal income dropped 2.7% in August, reflecting a decrease in unemployment insurance benefits.
⁍ Economists are warning that the economy and labor market recovery could sputter without an infusion of new money from the government.
– The number of Americans filing new jobless claims fell by 36,000 in the week ending Sept. 26, the Labor Department reports. Economists expected 850,000 claims, per Reuters. The drop likely reflects California’s decision to suspend the processing of new claims for two weeks to deal with fraud. The number of people receiving benefits, however, also fell, dropping 980,000 to 11.767 million in the week ending Sept. 19. The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, fell to 831,000, down from an upwardly revised 840,000 the previous week. The Wall Street Journal notes that the last time the four-week average fell below 900,000 was in December 2009.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy/us-labor-market-income-data-point-to-drawn-out-economic-recovery-idUSKBN26M650