Early Morning Economic Indicators -- April 14, 2022

Stagflation, three components:

• high inflation
• slow growth
• high unemployment: the third component is main focus for the Brits

Jobless claims, today:

• held near multi-decade lows
• still near a 54-year low set earlier this month;
• 185,000 vs 170,000 expected
• prior week revised to 167,000
• continuing claims
• 1.475 million vs 1.500 million expected
  
• 1.523 previous week
• most interesting:
• prior week revised to 167,000
• compared to 218,000 new claims filed per week throughout 2019 before the pandemic
  

Russia: indications that banking sanctions are starting to bite

• Putin agrees to give customers additional time to meet payment deadlines
• not doing it to "be nice"; he needs the cash; rather have delays than non-payments
• again, western sanctions:
• immediate: sanctions on banking
• assets frozen; 
• removed from international banking system
  
• short-to-medium term: sanctions on oil purchases
• long term: sanctions on western technology to keep energy sector working
• nothing new here; all previously posted.