Recent Updates
- Singapore: New Registered & Deregistered Motor Vehicles (Nov)
- Japan: Corporate Goods Price Index (Nov), Machinery Orders, Machine Equipment Production (Oct)
- Australia: ADI Property Exposures statistics, ADI Property Exposures Statistics (Q3), WMI Consumer Sentiment, Unemployment Expectations (Dec)
- Korea: Labor Market (Nov), Money Supply, Credit to Households (Oct)
- China: Mobile Phone Shipment (Nov), Innovation Index (2017)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Financial Accounts Show Moderate Borrowing, Average Ratio to GDP
rowing in U.S. financial markets slowed in Q2 2018, according to the Federal Reserve's Financial Accounts data...
U.S. Small Business Optimism Diminishes
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index declined to 104.8 during November...
U.S. Gasoline Prices Fall; Crude Oil Costs Rise
Gasoline prices declined to an average $2.42 per gallon (-2.6% y/y)...
ZEW Assessments Shift and Weaken in December
The economic situation has worsened everywhere...
U.S. JOLTS: Job Openings and Hires Rates Improve
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate improved to 4.5% during October...
by Tom Moeller August 18, 2005
Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased 6,000 to 316,000 last week and reversed a revised 5,000 decline the week earlier. Consensus expectations had been for 310,000 claims.
Despite the increase, initial claims in August are 1.6% below the July average, however, the latest figure covers the survey week for August nonfarm payrolls and is up 3.6% from the July 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.
The four week moving average of initial claims rose to 312,750 (-7.2% y/y).
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance rose 28,000 following a deepened 16,000 decline one week earlier.
The insured unemployment rate remained at the four year low of 2.0% for the fifth consecutive week.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 08/13/05 | 08/06/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 316 | 310 | -5.1% | 343 | 402 | 404 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,593 | -10.7% | 2,926 | 3,531 | 3,570 |
