Jobless Claims Dip But Remain Painful

Plus: A New Breed of ETF You are receiving this limited-time email resource as a subscriber to Kiplinger's free e-newsletters. We will continue to publish this daily throughout the height of the coronavirus outbreak. To unsubscribe at any time, simply click the link in the footer below. MAY 28, 2020 [View in browser]( [Corona]( WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK Initial unemployment claims continue to trend down, but slowly. And they remain painfully elevated. Claims made in the week ending May 23 totaled 2.1 million, and will likely stay in the millions for several weeks to come. Claims filed since the third week of March total nearly 41 million, nearing the 47 million during the recession of 2008-09 in a much shorter time period. SEE ALSO: [10 Things You Must Know About Filing for Unemployment Benefits]( Despite the stirrings of economic recovery as states reopen, the unemployment data show that the economic punch of the virus is still fierce. Layoff announcements continue, with American Airlines planning to shed 5,000 jobs. While the impact on travel and tourism industries has been obvious, the secondary effects on other parts of the economy are starting to show up. The types of workers being targeted the most for layoffs are managers, salespeople, marketers, customer service staff and those in administrative support roles. Companies are trying to keep their most skilled workers, as they will be the first ones needed when business finally picks up. Most of the Silicon Valley tech companies making layoffs, such as Uber, Airbnb, Lyft, and Opendoor, are focusing on satellite offices outside the Bay area while they try to hang on to software engineers. Free download, [The Kiplinger Letter's Forecast](. No information required from you. Want your exchange-traded fund (ETF) to feel more like a mutual fund? You'll get your chance with the budding field of actively managed, "non-transparent" ETFs. Bloomberg reported on Thursday ([paywall]( that Legg Mason will become the second fund provider to issue such a product -- in this case, The ClearBridge Focus Value ETF (CFCV) -- after American Century launched a pair in late March. In brief, CFCV's managers will seek out large-cap stocks with "strong business franchises and attractive valuations." But the fund's most notable trait is that it only has to reveal its holdings once a quarter. ETFs traditionally have had to list what they own on a daily basis, which active fund managers fear would allow rivals to "front-run" their strategies. The SEC's recent approval of "non-transparent" funds allow them to veil their holdings, which could spark a run of new products by asset managers that have been slow to jump into the ETF field. Critics, however, say there's little evidence that any meaningful "front-running" actually occurs. Also, remember that passive, index-tracking ETFs have grown in popularity in part because actively managed funds have long struggled to beat their benchmarks. SPONSORED CONTENT FROM SMARTASSET [These are Your 3 Financial Advisors in Your Area]( [These are Your 3 Financial Advisors in Your Area]( Finding the right advisor that fits your needs doesn't have to be hard. SmartAsset's free tool matches you with fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. [READ MORE]( RELATED LINKS [E-Commerce Surges to 18% of Retail Sales]( [Kiplinger ETF 20: Our Strategic Funds Shine]( [Millionaires in America 2020: All 50 States Ranked]( [Pros' Picks: The 15 Best Nasdaq Stocks You Can Buy]( [6 Ways Investors Can Seize the Moment During the Pandemic]( [Kiplinger] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( [Google+]( [Tumbler]( Send this to a friend. [Click here.]( All content ©2020 The Kiplinger Washington Editors 1100 13th Street, NW, Suite 1000 Washington, D.C. 20005 Thank you for subscribing to Kiplinger's A Step Ahead, a free resource to help readers navigate special circumstances such as the coronavirus outbreak. If you ever wish to stop receiving this daily service, please [click here to unsubscribe.](