Bonds & Stocks
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US Treasury market is telegraphing that the Federal Reserve ought to lower interest rates. “We are seeing that two-year rates are now below fed funds rates. So that’s a market signal that they think the Fed should be cutting,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business.
Economy
The surge in initial unemployment-insurance claims was largely concentrated in New York. WARN notices for the state have been relatively stable over the past few months, making the jump in claims a surprise. Perhaps more important than the concentrated jump in initial claims, however, is the surge in continuing unemployment claims nationally, which foreshadows upward pressure on the unemployment rate as it takes workers longer to find new jobs.
World
The planned meeting between US and Iran officials on May 3 is being rescheduled for “logistical reasons,” Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi says in a post on X.