Record Breaking Initial Jobless Claims as COVID-19 Continues Assault on Economy Talking Points:
- Jobless claims rise to new record of 6.64 million amid virus pandemic
- Dow Jones[1] set to open higher despite dismal jobless claims
- Markets now await Friday’s non-farm payrolls report
US weekly jobless claims crossed the wires at 6.64 million Thursday morning, breaking the previous all-time high record of 3.28 million set just last week. COVID-19 continues to ravage its way through the economy as the virus continues to spread despite aggressive social distancing standards set by federal and State governments. The US Dollar[2] was largely unchanged as the figure crossed the wires, but US equity markets appear set to open higher on the open.
US Dollar Chart (1-Min Chart)
Chart Created by Thomas Westwater in TradingView[3]
The chances for a recession now appear imminent as economic fallout from the coronavirus continues to mount[4]. Equity markets started the second quarter with a steep decline on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Index sinking over 900 points. This follows the worst ever Q1 performance for the closely watched index, dropping 23.1 percent.
US Jobless Claims Hits New Record
While initial jobless claims provide timely data on the impact of the current pandemic to the labor market, other economic data this week reflected the grim situation with ISM’s manufacturing survey showing the largest drop in new orders since 2009[5]. Friday will provide further insight into just how severe the virus impacted the US economy last month with March’s non-farm payrolls and ISM’s services PMI survey set to release.
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