Citi: Expecting non-farm payrolls to increase by 75,000 in December, with the unemployment rate rising to 4.7%

BlockBeats News, December 31 — Citigroup economists advise caution regarding the decline in unemployment benefit claims around the holiday period. During the week of Christmas, the number of claims dropped from 215,000 to 199,000, while analysts forecasted 220,000. Citigroup stated, “The seasonal adjustment issues for this holiday week seem to be much more severe than usual, and more reliable initial jobless claims data signals may not appear until later in January.” However, data shows that layoffs remain low, and Citigroup expects December non-farm payrolls to increase by 75,000, with the data to be released next week. Citigroup also noted, “But we still expect the unemployment rate to rise to 4.7%, partly due to the labor force participation rate increasing again.” (Jin10)