WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims dropped 24,000 to 398,000, on a seasonally adjusted basis, in the week ended July 23, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was the lowest number since 385,000 initial claims were reported in the week ended April 2.
Continuing claims for the week ending July 16 dipped to 3.703 million. Economists expected 415,000 initial jobless claims and 3.700 million continuing claims.
A combination of a "stronger-than-expected economy, higher Treasury rates, robust supply, and rich valuations resulting in choppy markets" have made the trading environment in H124 "quite difficult," according to Barclays.
Two rating agencies upgraded Los Angeles Unified School District's bond ahead of multi-billion dollar refunding.
The Basel III Endgame proposal to restructure capital holding levels comes under fire.
Friday price talk for the unrated tax-exempt paper was between 11% and 15%.
The board approved that step at its second quarter board meeting held this week.
The Inflation Reduction Act, affordable housing and clean energy were among the topics discussed at Baker Tilly's DevelUP conference in Chicago this week.
