In the week ending Dec. 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 304,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 324,000. The 4-week moving average was 327,250, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 328,750.
The 4-week average notched down, but it's still in a small uptrend. However, here's what I'm interested in:
13 states had 1000 or more lay-offs in construction. This is the second week in the last month with a lot of construction lay-offs. Winter construction lay-offs are standard practice. The question is, "will there people get rehired"?
Construction related employment was stagnant for most of this year, as this graph from the BLS indicates:
The graph indicates construction employment has topped and will now go into a decline, especially as the housing market continues to cool. Given the present set of economic variables, it's more likely this months lay-offs won't be rehired in the spring.
