Fidelity’s mission is to strengthen the financial well-being of our customers and deliver better outcomes for the clients and businesses it serves. With assets under administration of $12.6 trillion, including discretionary assets of $4.9 trillion as of December 31, 2023, Fidelity focuses on meeting the unique needs of a broad and growing customer base. Privately held for 77 years, Fidelity employs more than 74,000 associates with its headquarters in Boston and a global presence spanning nine countries across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Note: This account is not managed or monitored by Fidelity, and any messages sent via Seeking Alpha will not receive a response. For inquiries or communication, please use Fidelity’s official channels.

This article was written by

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of VTIP either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

My wife holds LTPZ and VTIP

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, consistent with labor market resilience. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 215,000 for the week ended June 20, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 225,000 claims for the latest ‌week.

The data ⁠included last ⁠Friday’s Juneteenth public holiday, which could have contributed to part of the larger-than-expected decline. Claims are typically more complicated from the end of May through June when the school year ends, as some states allow non-teaching staff to file for unemployment benefits during the long school holidays. Seasonal factors, the model used by the government to strip out seasonal fluctuations from the data, do not ⁠always capture ‌these moves. Though claims have been hovering in the upper end of their 190,000-230,000 range for this year, there has been no ⁠material shift in the labor market, which has regained its footing after stumbling last year.

There have been no signs of employers resorting to widespread layoffs in response to surging costs stoked by the U.S.-led war with Iran. Companies, however, remain cautious about hiring. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, increased 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.821 million during the ‌week ended June 13, the claims report showed. The so-called continuing claims data covered the period during which the government surveyed households for June’s unemployment rate.

The jobless rate ⁠has held at 4.3% for three straight months. Still, the lack of strong hiring has left many out-of-work people enduring long spells of unemployment. Recent college graduates are also having a hard time finding entry-level positions, a trend partly blamed on companies deploying artificial intelligence for some of these roles.

The median duration of unemployment jumped to 11.6 weeks in May, the longest stretch since November 2021, from 11.0 weeks in April, the government reported this month.

Mark Pownall is joined by Gary Adshead, Jack McGinn and Claire Tyrrell to talk WA business and politics, including the latest on the state Liberal party, bird flu impact, Water Corp’s Shenton Park plans, Rio Tinto’s CBD move, apartments at Hillarys, Satterley’s annual results and much more.