Number of US Americans claiming fresh unemployment benefits claims rise to 965,000 people in second week of Jan 21.

Insight: Initial jobless claims have risen to 965,000 (339% Y-o-Y) vs consensus of 800,000. Registering the highest print since the week of 22-Aug-20 (which saw a number of approx. 1 million), the high number of claims hint towards economic weakening amid further restriction (US Mobility remains about 23.2% below baseline as of January 6). In the previous month, the total non-farm payroll employment declined by 140,000. The job losses occurred mainly in leisure, hospitality and private education sectors, but were somewhat offset by job gains in some business services, retail trade, and construction. Markets reacted less intensely to claims data amid stimulus package anticipation.

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