For the past nine months, the US Department of Labor publishes figures that show the pandemic’s effect on the labor market.
Jobless claims figures came in at 803,000 for the week ended on December 19. Even though the number is still high, it is lower than the previous one of 892,000. The market was expecting 882,000 people to have filled for unemployment benefits in the past week.
The news came when there is a showdown between the US lawmakers and President Donald Trump. After many weeks of discussions, both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed a $900 billion relief package, which includes $600 stimulus checks, $300/ week federal unemployment benefits, and $320 billion in business relief. But Donald Trump called the latest stimulus aid a “disgrace” and threatened not to sign the bill. Also, he urged congressional leaders to come up with significant edits to the package.
Besides the high numbers from the Department of Labor, according to Johns Hopkins University data, in the US, on average, there are at least 215,400 new cases and roughly 2,600 deaths daily.
The country’s benchmarks – USA30, USA500, and TECH100 – are said to open mixedly.
Sources: forexfactory.com, cnbc.com