Strong U.S. Job Market
- According to the U.S. Labor Department, 214,000 individuals filed for federal unemployment benefits during the week that ended Nov. 3, down from 215,000 the week before. The four-week moving average of first-time claims also fell while the number of individuals who continued to receive benefits fell to 1.623 million during the week that ended Oct. 27 from 1.631 million the previous week. That figure was at its lowest level since July 1973. The four-week moving average of continuing claims also declined and was at its lowest level since August 1973. In other employment-related news, the U.S. Labor Department announced last week that there were seven million job open in the United States in September 2018.
- In other economic news: the U.S. Producer Price Index increased 0.6 percent between September 2018 and October 2018 and 2.9 percent between October 2017 and October 2018; U.S. merchant wholesaler sales increased 0.2 percent between August 2018 and September 2018 while inventories rose 0.4 percent.