• From the Wall Street Journal:
"Jobless claims declined last week to the lowest level since September, suggesting the labor market remained tight at the start of the year.
"Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 190,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims are up from lows reached early in 2022, but continue to hover near prepandemic levels when the job market was also tight … The U.S. labor market remains strong but has gradually lost steam in recent months. Employers added 223,000 jobs in December, the smallest gain in two years. There were 10.5 million job openings in November, down from the peak 11.9 million in March, but far exceeding the number of unemployed Americans seeking work."
