Jobless Claims Dropped to 276,000 Last Week
“There isn’t a whole lot of fat to trim”
An employee attaches wheels to a Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) vehicle on the assembly line at the BMW Manufacturing Co. assembly plant in Greer, South Carolina.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
In the short run, a hit to Americans’ wallets is trumping the benefits of an improving job market.
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index declined in the seven days ended May 31, marking a record-setting eighth straight weekly drop, a report showed Thursday. At the same time, fewer workers are receiving unemployment benefits than at any time in more than 14 years, according to the Labor Department.