Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 9 fell by 3,000 to 224,000, the Labor Department reported. That’s below the 230,000 new applications that economists had forecast.

Still, some warnings from financial writers have been ominous: Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, said the firing was ...

Also in today’s newsletter, investors are concerned about the president’s pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics ...