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- Israel: Average Housing Prices (Q2)
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Economy in Brief
U.S. Housing Affordability Declines Further in June
The NAR Fixed Rate Mortgage Housing Affordability Index fell 3.6% in June...
EMU Output Makes Solid Gain in June
The European Monetary Union posted a 0.7% increase for industrial output in June...
U.S. Producer Prices Fall During July; Core Increase Weakens
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand fell 0.5% during July...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Continue on an Uptrend
Initial claims for unemployment insurance filed in the week ended August 6 rose 14,000 to 262,000...
RICS Survey Points to More U.K. Housing Sector Weakness
The survey of housing market conditions in the U.K. continues to show strength in prices versus weakness...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller June 2, 2005
Job cut announcements jumped in May, however, the 42.2% m/m rise did not reverse all of the prior month's plunge. Therefore, the three month average of job cut announcements fell further to the lowest level since last August.
During the last ten years there has been an 84% (inverse) correlation between the three month moving average of announced job cuts and the three month change payroll employment.
Job cut announcements rose sharply m/m in the apparel (+234% y/y), computer (496% y/y) and insurance (321% y/y) industries but fell broadly elsewhere.
Job cut announcements differ from layoffs. Many are achieved through attrition, early retirement or just never occur.
Challenger also reported that announced hiring plans fell for the second month in the last three.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas | May | April | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Announced Job Cuts | 82,283 | 57,861 | 12.2% | 1,039,175 | 1,236,426 | 1,431,052 |