The title of this post is one that brings pause to many people. Are we headed towards a double dip recession? I don’t think we can say one way or another quite yet. However, today’s numbers are not good:
The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance surged to just below the 500,000 level last week, and have climbed more than 12% over the past two weeks, the government said Thursday.
…
The 4-week moving average of initial claims was 473,750, up 6,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 467,750.
I have talked to many companies who are in a holding mode for hiring. Thankfully, I have not encountered as many who are looking at any further layoffs. I take that to be a good, but not great, sign.