Recent Updates
- Croatia: Core CPI, Consumer Confidence (Sep)
- Canada: Wholesale Trade (Aug), Nonresidential Building Construction (Q3)
- Canada Regional: Wholesale Trade by Province (Aug)
- Morocco: CPI (Sep)
- Palestine: Public Debt (Sep-Prelim)
- Bangladesh: CPI (Sep)
- Luxembourg: Employment and Unemployment (Sep)
- Ukraine: Average Sales Prices of Agricultural Products (Sep); Trade by Commodity, Import and Export Indexes (Aug), HPI (Q3)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Weaken, Dragging Down Prices
The NAR reported that sales of existing homes during September declined 3.4% to 5.150 million...
Canadian Retail Sales Weaken As Inflation Slows
Canada's retail sales show relatively widespread deceleration...
U.S. Leading Economic Indicators Strengthen
The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.5% (7.0% y/y) during September...
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Growth Continues; Pricing Pressure Eases
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index dipped to 22.2 during October...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Ease
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 210,000 (-8.7% y/y) during the week ended October 13...
by Tom Moeller March 24, 2005
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 3,000 to 324,000 last week and the level of claims during the prior two weeks was revised slightly higher. Consensus expectations had been for 315,000 claims.
The revisions raised the increase in claims during the March survey period for nonfarm payrolls to 18,000 (+5.9%) versus the February period.
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 four week moving average of initial claims rose to 321,750 (-5.4% y/y).
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance rose 31,000 from the prior week and the insured rate of unemployment remained at 2.1%.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 03/19/05 | 03/12/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 324 | 321 | -5.8% | 343 | 402 | 404 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,673 | -11.7% | 2,926 | 3,531 | 3,570 |
