Recent Updates
- Taiwan: Manufacturing PMI, Non-manufacturing PMI (Feb)
- China: Foreign Reserves (Feb)
- US: Employment Situation (Feb), Intl Trade (Jan)
- US: Establishment Survey Detail (Feb)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Declines in January
Consumers reduced credit balances further in January...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to $68.2 Billion in January
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $68.2 billion in January...
German Order Growth Gets Back in Gear Despite the Headwinds
German order growth is back in gear with total orders rising by 1.4% m/m in January...
U.S. Factory Orders & Shipments Rise Again in January
Manufacturing activity is strengthening. Factory orders rose 2.6% (2.8% y/y) in January...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Rise Just 9,000
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose modestly by 9,000 to 745,000 in the week ended February 27...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller October 6, 2005
Initial filings for unemployment insurance outpaced Consensus expectations for 365,000 claims and rose 21,000 to 390,000 last week. The prior week's decline was lessened to 66,000.
The Labor Department indicated that last week 74,000 initial claims were linked to Hurricanes Katrina & Rita and totaled 363,000 during September.
The four-week moving average of initial claims rose to 404,500 (17.2% y/y) from 388,750 during the prior four weeks.
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance surged 118,000 following a downwardly revised 129,000 increase during the prior week.
The insured rate of unemployment rose to 2.3% from 2.2% the week prior. The low in early September was 2.0%.
Hurricane Katrina and the Employment Situation report for September 2005 from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics can be found here.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 09/31/05 | 09/24/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 390 | 369 | 14.4% | 343 | 402 | 404 |
| Hurricane Related Claims (000, NSA) | 74 | 70 | ||||
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,905 | 2.1% | 2,926 | 3,531 | 3,570 |
