The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits hit a 20-year high last week, again pointing to a jobless economic recovery and a likely cut in interest rates later this month.
Although new claims dropped by 17,000 to 430,000 last week, the number continuing to collect state unemployment cheques hit 3.8 million, up from 3.68 million during the previous week, the U.S. Labor Department said yesterday.
"The bottom line is that the much anticipated post-war bounce in spending remains elusive and we will have to wait to see how the coming wave of tax relief and mortgage refinancing will influence the consumer in the third quarter," said David Rosenberg, chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York.
Oh well....