US: Labor market will remain under pressure in the short run – Wells Fargo

Data released on Thursday showed an unexpected increase in jobless claims. According to analysts at Wells Fargo, while vaccines offer a light at the end of the tunnel, the labor market will remain under pressure in the short-term.

Key Quotes: 

“We can no longer think of claims being in a trend decline given the fact that they have increased in three out of the past five weeks and are higher today than at any point since September.”

“It could have been worse, unadjusted claims figures climbed to 947.5K, but since the seasonal factors were expecting an increase of 92K, the seasonally adjusted print resulted in an increase of “only” 137K, the largest weekly jump since March.”

“In an indication of the increased difficulty people are having finding a replacement job, continuing claims rose for the first time since they hit a peak in May.”