U.S. jobless claims, seen as a proxy for layoffs, fell by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 204,000 during the holiday week. While signaling rare labor market tightness, the recent data has also strengthened the case for the Federal Reserve to continue with its aggressive stance.
Moreover, in the minutes of the Fed’s December meeting released yesterday, the Central Bank seemed to be in consensus “against prematurely loosening monetary policy” while cautioning the public from reading too much into the slowing pace of interest-rate hikes.
