The latest US initial jobless claims data came at 215,000, below the estimated expectation of 225,000, on April 17. The dip in jobless claims indicated that the US labor market remained stable, with fewer people being affected by the uncertainty of US tariffs. Initial jobless claims are a leading economic indicator that measures the health of the US economy and it often impacts investor sentiment around risk assets like Bitcoin (BTC). US jobless claims data. Source: Investing.com
Resiliency in the labor market comes on the back of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s recent comment about the impact of tariffs. In a press conference at the economics club of Chicago on April 16, Powell said,
“The level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated. The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will