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- Ukraine: Import and Export Indexes (Jun)
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Economy in Brief
U.S. Index of Leading Indicators Fell Again in July
The Conference Board's Composite Leading Economic Indicators Index fell 0.4% m/m...
U.S. Philly Fed General Activity Index Back to Positive Reading in August
The current general activity diffusion index rose nearly 19 points in August to 6.2...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Slightly Lower
Initial claims for unemployment insurance went down 2,000 in the week ended August 13 to 250,000...
Inflation Rages in EMU and Hovers Globally
Inflation in the European Monetary Union in July finalizes at 8.8% year-over-year...
U.S. Retail Sales Hold Steady in July; Nonauto Sales Rise
Total retail sales remained unchanged during July (10.3% y/y)...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller March 3, 2005
Initial claims for unemployment insurance slipped 1,000 to 310,000 last week and the prior week's moderate rise was lessened. Consensus expectations had been for 315,000 claims.
The four week moving average of initial claims fell to 307,0000 (-13.6% y/y).
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance rose 12,000 and the prior week's decline was lessened to 52,000.
During the last ten years there has been a (negative) 75% correlation between the level of initial claims for unemployment insurance and the monthly change in payroll employment. There has been a (negative) 66% correlation with the level of continuing claims.
The insured rate of unemployment remained at 2.1%.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 02/26/05 | 02/19/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 310 | 311 | -9.4% | 343 | 402 | 404 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,650 | -15.8% | 2,926 | 3,531 | 3,570 |
