Recent Updates
- US: GDP by Industry (Q4)
- Poland: PPI, IP (Mar); Bulgaria: BOP (Feb); Romania: Turnover & New Orders (Feb); Russia: External Debt Payment Schedule (Q4)
- Sweden: Dwelling Stock (2017); Norway: Bank Lending Survey (Q2), Oil & Gas Production (Mar)
- US: NCI Economic Activity Index (Apr)
- Qatar: IP (Feb); Kuwait: CPI (Mar); South Africa: Wholesale & Motor Trade Sales (Feb); Bahrain: CPI (Mar)
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- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Philadelphia Fed Factory Conditions Improve; Prices Jump
The Philadelphia Fed reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index rose to 23.2 during April...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Are Little Changed
Initial unemployment insurance claims slipped to 232,000 (-6.1% y/y) during the week ended April 14...
U.K. Retail Sales Fall
U.K. GDP is expected to cool its jets when the first quarter GDP number is released...
U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications Rebound; Interest Rates Steady
The MBA total Mortgage Applications Volume Index increased 4.9% last week (1.0% y/y), ...
Japan’s Trade Surplus Returns Even As Trade Flows Slow
While the IMF has just lifted its outlook for growth in 2018, Japan is logging weaker and weaker export and import growth as the year progresses...
by Tom Moeller November 23, 2005
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 30,000 to 335,000 last week and reversed the little revised 23,000 decline the prior week. Consensus expectations had been for a lesser increase to 311,000 claims.
Hurricane related claims totaled 21,000 and brought the total of the three storms during the last twelve weeks to 582,000.
The four-week moving average of initial claims ticked up slightly to 323,250 (-2.5% y/y).
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance rose a sharp 59,000 following three successive weeks of decline.
The insured rate of unemployment held at 2.2% for the ninth consecutive week.
Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee November 1, 2005 can be found here.
Estimating the "Neutral" Real Interest Rate in Real Time from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is available here.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 11/19/05 | 11/12/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 335 | 305 | 3.4% | 343 | 402 | 404 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,824 | 3.1% | 2,926 | 3,531 | 3,570 |
