Continuing Claims May Prod Powell Into Rate Cuts

US jobless claims slipped in the week to June 15, Thursday's update showed. Initial filers were 238,000 during the week, down 5,000 from an upwardly revised 243,000 prior. (And here I thought we were making progress.) Recall that claims were the highest since August in the last update, good news if you're secure in your job and possessed of financial assets that'll benefit from easier Fed policy in the event of labor market weakness. 238,000 was actually above estimates. Economists saw 235,00