As mass corporate layoffs continue to mount, with CSCO the latest to announce (a 5% global workforce reduction), why should we be shocked that expectations were for a very small rise in initial jobless claims (from 218k to 220k) last week.
Source: Layoffs.fyi
What does that look like - in the real world labor market - in 2024...
1. Twitch: 35% of workforce
2. Roomba: 31% of workforce
3. Hasbro: 20% of workforce
4. LA Times: 20% of workforce
5. Spotify: 17% of workforce
6. Levi's: 15% of workforce
7. Xerox: 15% of workforce
8. Qualtrics: 14% of workforce
9. Wayfair: 13% of workforce
10. Duolingo: 10% of workforce
11. Washington Post: 10% of workforce
12: Snap: 10% of workforce
13. eBay: 9% of workforce
14. Business Insider: 8% of workforce
15. Paypal: 7% of workforce
16. Charles Schwab: 6% of workforce
17. Docusign: 6% of workforce
18. UPS: 2% of workforce
19. Blackrock: 3% of workforce
20. Citigroup: 20,000 employees
21. Pixar: 1,300 employees
22. Cisco: 5% of workforce
And here's the government-supplied statistics...
Instead, the number of Americans filing for jobless claims for the first time decline to 212k (of course it f**king did!)...
Source: Bloomberg
Missouri saw by far the biggest decline in initial claims (NSA) while Kentucky and California saw big jumps...
However, Continuing Claims ticked up from 1.86mm to 1.895mm (above exp of 1.88mm)...
Source: Bloomberg
As a reminder, here's what Richmond Fed governor Tom Barkin warned last week:
"I am cautious about accuracy of numbers around the turn of the year."
Cautious all year round more like...
