·
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 6,000 to 327,000 last
week following a revised 16,000 drop the prior week. Consensus
expectations had been for 315,000 claims.
· Hurricane related claims dropped to 8,000 and brought the total of the three storms during the last fourteen weeks to 600,000.
· The four-week moving average of initial claims was about unchanged at 322,500 (-4.8% y/y).
· Continuing unemployment insurance claims fell 137,000 following a 57,000 decline the prior week which was deeper than initially reported.
· The insured rate of unemployment fell to 2.0% from a downwardly revised 2.1% the prior week.
· Monetary Policy with Imperfect Knowledge, a working paper from economists at the Federal Reserve board, is available here.
· Can Financial Innovation Help to Explain the Reduced Volatility of Economic Activity? is another working paper published by the Federal Reserve Board and can be found here.