US Exceptionalism Fades, Weighing On Greenback
The “US exceptionalism” trade took another blow yesterday morning when the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the number of Americans filing initial applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to an eight-month high. The jump in jobless claims – up 22,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 231,000 in the week ended May 4 – surprised economists and helped bolster expectations for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, helping erode the dollar’s yield premium and lift other currencies in relative terms. Softness in the labour market dovetails with our belief that re-acceleration hopes for the economy have become overblown, and we think that...