• From the Associated Press:
"More Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, the largest number in four months, but the labor market remains strong in the face of persistent inflation and a slowing overall US economy.
"Jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 1 rose by 29,000 to 219,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week’s number was revised down by 3,000 to 190,000.
"The four-week moving average inched up by 250 to 206,500.
"The total number of Americans collecting unemployment aid rose by 15,000 to 1.36 million for the week ending Sept. 24."
• From the Wall Street Journal:
"U.S. employers added 263,000 jobs in September, continuing a gradual cooling pattern in the labor market as high inflation and rising interest rates weighed on the economy.
"The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% from 3.7% in August, the Labor Department said Friday, matching a half-century low that was last reached in July, a reflection of people leaving the job market. Wages rose 5.0% in September from the same month a year earlier, a slower pace than August’s 5.2% annual rate."
• Kroger said this week that the new line of meal kits developed by television chef Rachael Ray for the retailer's Home Chef business now will be available in its banners' stores nationwide.
According to the announcement, "The first Rachael Ray Home Chef meal kit, in stores now, guides customers through an easy-to-follow recipe created by Ray herself for a delicious Steakhouse Burger with Dijon mushrooms and onions. The series will include meals like Pork Lo Mein with carrots and bok choy, Spicy Sloppy Joes with oven fries, and more. New meal kits featuring Rachael Ray recipes will be available each month in more than 1,300 stores across the Kroger Family of Companies through mid-March."
• From the New York Times this morning:
"Shipping and commodities prices have seen steady declines recently, but Costco Wholesale Corp. isn’t yet in a position to pass savings on to customers, the CFO said.
"Pricing at the retailer’s 839 global warehouse stores hasn’t decreased, according to Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti, despite the lower prices for shipping goods and for things like gasoline and steel. Costco in some cases locked in prices it pays to suppliers months ago and inflationary pressures from rising labor costs persist, which means the drops in shipping and commodities prices aren’t necessarily benefiting the company’s balance sheet yet."
