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US weekly jobless claims total 234,000 vs 238,000 estimate

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week, suggesting a further tightening in labor market conditions. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000 for the week ended Aug. 19. The four-week moving average of claims — a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility — fell to 237,750 last week, the lowest level since May. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week, suggesting a further tightening in labor market conditions. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000 for the week ended Aug. 19, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Data for the prior week was unrevised. Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a robust labor market, for 129 consecutive weeks. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor mar...
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Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck

Nearly 10 percent of those making $100,000 or more say they can't make ends meet. Overall, most workers said they are in debt and many believe they always will be. Overall, 71 percent of all U.S. workers said they're now in debt, up from 68 percent a year ago, CareerBuilder said. While 46 percent said their debt is manageable, 56 percent said they were in over their heads. About 56 percent also save $100 or less each month, according to CareerBuilder. The job-hunting site polled over 2,000 hiring and human resource managers and more than 3,000 full-time employees between May and June. Most financial experts recommend stashing at least a six-month cushion in an  emergency fund  to cover anything from a dental bill to a car repair — and more if you are the sole breadwinner in your family or in business for yourself. While household income has grown over the past decade, it has failed to keep up with the increased cost-of-living over the same period. Even those maki...
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Dallas Fed president says US needs more immigrants to fill open jobs

Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan says U.S. growth is so slow because of demographic problems. He says another wave of skilled immigrants will be needed to bridge the "skills gap" that is hindering employment. The U.S. will need more immigrants and a sensible trade policy if it's going to achieve breakout economic growth, Dallas Fed President  Robert Kaplan  said Thursday. Kaplan made his pitch for an aggressive but responsible approach to immigration during an interview with CNBC, saying that demographics are one of the key reasons the domestic economy has been stuck in a mediocre growth  pattern. "One of the big challenges we face in the United States and one of the reasons why  GDP  growth has been so sluggish is our population is aging and our workforce growth has been slowing," he said in an interview from the Fed's annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Kaplan is relatively optimistic on growth, expecting GDP gains in excess of 2 perc...
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Trump to begin big tax reform push next week, Gary Cohn says

President Trump will start publicly campaigning for the tax reform plan next week, Gary Cohn says in an interview with the Financial Times. The chief economic advisor said the tax reform plan will protect the personal charitable, mortgage and retirement savings deductions. Axios reports the tax plan is slated to come from the House Ways and Means Committee by the end of September. President Donald Trump will start publicly campaigning for the tax reform plan next week, chief economic advisor Gary Cohn said. In an interview with the Financial Times, Cohn said  Trump will begin the campaign Wednesday in Missouri. "Starting next week, the president's agenda and calendar is going to revolve around tax reform," Cohn said in the interview published Friday. "He will start being on the road making major addresses justifying the reasoning for tax reform and why we need it in the U.S." Cohn added that the administration does not have "fixed or detailed p...
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Markets are waiting for possible Jackson Hole surprise from central bankers

The Fed's long anticipated annual Jackson Hole symposium features high-profile speeches from Fed Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. Draghi was expected to be the central banker who could affect markets most and reveal new policy details, but now some strategists say it could be Yellen instead. Yellen speaks at 10 a.m. ET, and Draghi speaks at 3 p.m. ET. Traders have been betting Mario Draghi is the central banker most likely to surprise markets at Jackson Hole Friday, but now it actually could be Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Markets have been waiting for the  Fed's annual Jackson Hole symposium,  expecting Draghi, the European Central Bank president, to provide some insight into when the ECB might cut back on some of its quantitative easing. But Draghi spoke already this week and revealed nothing. Yellen's topic is financial stability, and while many economists believe she will stick to the Fed's script on financial markets and regu...
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Moody's economist: The Fed still needs to convince the market that more hikes are coming

Moody's Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi told CNBC that the Fed must do a lot of work to convince markets that interest rate hikes were coming soon Zandi expected that work would begin at the September meeting He said European Central Bank President Mario Draghi could comment on the euro's recent strength at the Jackson Hole symposium The  U.S. Federal Reserve  must do a lot of work to convince skeptical markets that interest rate hikes are in the cards, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "Markets still aren't quite convinced. They haven't bought into the Federal Reserve's forecast, my forecast, for the path for future interest rates," he told CNBC's " The Rundown " on Friday. So far, markets have been pricing in a less than 50 percent chance of an interest rate hike in December. "The Fed will have to do some work here," he said. "I think, though, they'll probably wait until the Sept...
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