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The numbers: The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell by 12,000 to 237,000, indicating most companies are reluctant to fire workers despite a slower economy.
New jobless claims declined from a revised 249,000 in the prior week, government data showed.
Unemployment claims typically rise when the economy weakens and a recession approaches. Claims have moved up this year from historic lows, but they still aren’t pointing to a big deterioration in the labor market.
Big picture: The economy has lost some steam since the Federal Reserve began to jack up interest rates last year, but it’s still growing and producing plenty of new jobs. Even better, inflation is slowing.
Yet inflation is still running far too high for the Fed, in part because of rising wages spawned by the worst labor shortage in decades.
The central bank is watching wages closely to determine whether it needs to keep raising interest rates — and risk triggering a recession.
Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
and S&P 500
SPX,
were set to open higher in Thursday trades.
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