The US markets closed mostly lower on Thursday, as investors remained cautious a day ahead of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. Wall Street closely monitored the Senate confirmation hearing of Steven Mnuchin for the post of Treasury Secretary for his views on the dollar and tax issues. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen is due to give a speech covering the economic outlook and monetary policy.
On the economy front, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits rose in late July but remained near the lowest level in decades, underscoring a red-hot labor market that shows little sign of cooling. Initial jobless claims in the period running from July 16 to July 22 increased by 10,000 and stood to seasonally adjusted 244,000. The average of new claims over the past month, which gives a more stable picture of layoff trends, was unchanged at 244,000. Claims often bounce up and down in July when auto makers typically close plants to retool in preparation for model switch-overs. More broadly, new claims have been under 300,000 for 125 straight weeks, the longest run since the early 1970s. Initial claims count people who apply for unemployment benefits after losing their jobs. The number of people who had already been collecting unemployment checks, meanwhile, slipped by 13,000 and stood to 1.96 million. These so-called continuing claims have been under 2 million for 16 straight weeks, a feat last accomplished in 1973. The US has added 16.6 million new jobs since 2010, pulling the unemployment rate down to 4.4% and heralding the best labor market since the turn of the century.
Meanwhile, factory output and broader job growth improved enough last month to lift the Chicago Fed’s index of national economic activity, but sluggish consumer spending held the measure back. The Chicago Fed’s national activity index improved to a positive 0.13 in June from a downwardly revised negative 0.30 in May. The index got its lift last month from recoveries for the manufacturing and employment components, while consumption/housing was a drag, although to a smaller degree than in May.
The Nasdaq lost 40.56 points or 0.63 percent to 6,382.19, S&P 500 edged lower by 2.41 points or 0.10 percent to 2,475.42, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 85.54 points or 0.39 percent to 21,796.55.
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