Jobless claims rise last week(to 322,000), labor costs up (2.5% annualized

[papau]

Hourly compensation increasing faster (at a 5.7% annualized) than productivity (at 3.2% annualized) causes unit labor costs to increase (at 2.5% annualized) in Q1 2006.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1922090

Jobless claims rise last week(to 322,000), labor costs up (2.5% annualized)

Reuters WASHINGTON - <snip>But manufacturing unit labor costs actually declined, at a 2.6 percent annualized pace, after dropping at a 3.3 percent rate in the fourth quarter of last year, while compensation per hour advanced at the tepid rate of 1.5 percent.

Separately, the Labor Department said new claims for state unemployment insurance benefits increased to 322,000 in the week ended April 29, the highest level since November, compared with an upwardly revised 317,000 the previous week.<snip>

"Basically you are looking at a gradual rising trend here. This message that claims are sending is that broader economic growth is slowing down," said Keith Hembre, chief economist at FAF Advisors in Minneapolis.

The claims numbers were gathered too late in the month to influence April's overall employment report, due on May 5. A Reuters' poll of analysts forecast 200,000 new jobs were created in April, compared with 211,000 in March, with the rate of unemployment expected to remain steady at 4.7 percent.

[Warpy]

1. That rise in hourly compensation reflects the falling dollar

because damned few people in the US have seen a raise in the past 6 years unless they've got corner offices paneled in cherry with deep oriental carpets.

The falling dollar means all those third world people who are being exploited in sweatshops are beginning to cost a little bit more.