US Worker Productivity Plunges Most In 40 Years But Jobless Claims Back To Normal

Initial jobless claims improved further last week with 'just' 269k Americans filing for first-time jobless benefits...

Source: Bloomberg

Kentucky and California saw the biggest jump in jobless claims while Missouri and Florida saw the biggest drop...

That leaves the total number of Americans on some form of government dole just above 2.6 million...

...the lowest since pre-pandemic-lockdown...

Source: Bloomberg

But this 'good' news is countered by a collapse in US productivity in Q3. The 5.0% plunge is the greatest quarterly drop in productivity in 40 years...

Source: Bloomberg

The productivity plunge is mirroring the surge in unit labor costs in Q3...

Source: Bloomberg

Time to start hiking rates, Jay?