No time to waste as jobless claims rise

Wells Fargo Research Team Wells Fargo

Jobless claims rose for a second week as the recovery has stalled. More than 30M workers are receiving some form of jobless benefits, while the clock on emergency federal benefits runs out tomorrow.

Government Data Begins to Show Recovery Faltering

Initial jobless claims for regular benefits rose for a second straight week, to 1.43 million. Not seasonally adjusted, new claims under both the regular state and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program fell over the week, but remain alarmingly high at 2.04 million.

Through the noise, the trend is little changed and confirms that the economy's recovery has lost momentum in recent weeks.

Down to the Wire

The insured unemployment rate headed back up last week and stands at 11.6%. Congress continues to debate the extension of the $600/week in emergency benefits, which are set to expire tomorrow. Unemployment benefits have helped to shore up income as millions of jobs have disappeared over a couple of months. The stakes are high with more than 30 million workers collecting unemployment insurance.

Download The Full Economic Indicators

Author

Wells Fargo Research Team

Wells Fargo

EUR/USD off highs, back to 1.1850

EUR/USD loses some upside momentum, returning to the 1.1850 region amid humble losses. The pair’s slight decline comes against the backdrop of a marginal advance in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings.

GBP/USD advances to daily tops around 1.3650

GBP/USD now manages to pick up extra pace, clinching daily highs around 1.3650 and leaving behind three consecutive daily pullbacks on Friday. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the inconclusive price action of the Greenback, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborates with the uptick.

Gold surpasses $5,000/oz, daily highs

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The yellow metal’s upside is also propped up by the lack of clear direction around the US Dollar post-US CPI release.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.