• Our podcast features Jim Bianco of Bianco Research and Ben Breitholtz of Arbor Data Science.

• U.S. unemployment claims remained elevated at 840,000 last week as the labor market flashes signs of a slowdown and more layoffs become permanent.

• CA can't count! How is that affecting claims?

- The state currently accounts for over 28% of all initial claims in the country. Prior to the pandemic, the state typically accounted for 10%-20% of all initial claims in the country.

- Once they get rid of the fraud, will the numbers DROP?

- The job applications topic has retreated over the past two weeks. JOLTS job openings corroborate the slowdown, falling in August for the first time in four months.

- Back in June, the consensus was expecting a massive growth quarter of more than 11%. This forecast has been falling hard and is now just 3.58%. While 3.5% is a decent quarter, there are no assurances this forecast is done falling.

For further information on Arbor Research, Bianco Research and Arbor Data Science, please contact Gus Handler at [email protected].