Recent Updates
- UK: Asset Purchase Facility (Nov), CBI Service Sector Survey (Q4)
- Belgium: Arrivals & Overnight Stays (Aug), CPI (Nov)
- Italy: Business & Consumer Surveys (Nov), Contractual Wages, PPI (Oct)
- China: Industrial Profits (Oct), External Portfolio Investment Assets (Q2)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. New Home Sales Almost Unchanged Since August
New single-family home sales around the country changed very little in October and also in September...
U.S. Q3 Growth GDP Unrevised at 33.1%; Corporate Profits Rebound
The second estimate of Q3 U.S. real GDP indicated that economic activity rose an unrevised 33.1% q/q...
U.S. Durable Goods Orders Rise Further in October
Manufacturers’ orders for durable goods increased 1.3% m/m (-0.3% y/y) in October...
U.S. Goods Trade Deficit Deepens During October
The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods deepened to $80.29 billion during October...
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rise for a Second Week
Initial claims for regular state unemployment insurance rose again this past week ending November 21 to 778,000...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller October 20, 2005
Initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped 35,000 to 355,000 last week versus a little revised level of 389,000 during the prior period. Consensus expectations had been for 370,000 claims.
The Labor Department indicated that 40,000 initial claims last week were linked to Hurricanes Katrina & Rita.
The latest figure covers the survey period for October nonfarm payrolls and initial claims fell 80,000 (18.4%) from the September period.
The four-week moving average of initial claims fell to 376,000 (+9.3% y/y) from 396,000 during the prior four weeks.
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance rose 35,000 following a deepened 12,000 worker decline during the prior week.
The insured rate of unemployment rose to 2.3% from 2.2% during the prior three weeks. The low in early September was 2.0%.
The latest Beige Book covering US regional economic conditions from the Federal Reserve Board can be found here.
Remarks by Fed Governor Donald L. Kohn titled The Economic Outlook are available here.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 10/15/05 | 10/08/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 355 | 389 | 6.0% | 343 | 402 | 404 |
| Hurricane Related Claims (000, NSA) | 40 | 75 | ||||
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,370 | 3.4% | 2,926 | 3,531 | 3,570 |
