Recent Updates
- Korea: Housing Supply/Inventory Statistics (Jan)
- Euro area: **Select SA trade series for the EU and EA have been reverted to data as of yesterday until Eurostat releases corrected data**
- US: Quarterly Financial Report (Q4)
- *Singapore's real international trade has changed reference year from 2012 Singapore dollars to 2018 Singapore dollars.*
- *Hong Kong Trade Indexes rebased from 2016=100 to 2017=100*
- Canada: International Transactions in Securities (Jan)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
EMU Trade Surplus Expands on Weak Import Rise
In the EMU, both import and export gains were modest in January...
U.S. JOLTS: Job Openings Remain Abundant
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate increased to 4.8% during January...
U.S. Industrial Production Edges Higher
Industrial production increased a less-than-expected 0.1% (3.5% y/y) during February...
Empire State Manufacturing Index Retreat Suggests Continued Slow Growth
The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions fell to 3.7 this month...
EMU Inflation Trends Are Still Weak
The EMU HICP for February gained 0.1%, the same as in January, after a 0.2% decline in December...
by Tom Moeller June 16, 2005
Initial claims for unemployment insurance remained about flat last week, rising 1,000 to 333,000 from an upwardly revised level the week prior. Consensus expectations had been for 328,000 claims.
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) 65% correlation with the level of continuing claims.
The four week moving average of initial claims increased modestly to 335,000 (-2.7% y/y).
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance jumped 58,000 following a deepened 9,000 decline the prior week.
The insured unemployment rate increased slightly to 2.1% after seven weeks at 2.0%.
The latest Beige Book from the Federal Reserve Board covering regional economic conditions is available here.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 06/11/05 | 06/04/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 333 | 332 | -2.3% | 343 | 402 | 404 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,641 | -9.1% | 2,926 | 3,531 | 3,570 |
