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- US: Employment Situation (May)
- Lithuania: Foreign Reserves (May-Prelim), Macroeconomic Projections (Q2)
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Economy in Brief
U.S. Consumer Credit Continues to Decline
Cautious spending breeds less credit usage...
German Orders Plunge in April
Germany's orders plunged in April, falling by 25.8% m/m...
U.S. Trade Deficit Deepens; Exports & Imports Fall by Record Amounts in April
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $49.41 billion during April...
U.S. Productivity and Unit Labor Costs Revised Up for Q1'20
Output per hour revised up on weaker hours worked...
State & Pandemic Assistance Continuing Claims Total 32.5 Million
Initial jobless claims decreased to a still extremely-elevated 1.877 million in the week ending May 30...
Special Topics
by Tom Moeller December 1, 2005
Initial claims for jobless insurance reversed about half of the prior week's rise and fell 17,000 to 320,000 during Thanksgiving week. Consensus expectations had been for 323,000 claims.
Hurricane related claims dropped back to 10,000 and brought the total of the three storms during the last thirteen weeks to 592,000.
The four-week moving average of initial claims fell slightly to 322,500 (-3.5% y/y).
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance fell 24,000 following a downwardly revised 26,000 gain the prior week.
The insured rate of unemployment held at 2.2% for the tenth consecutive week.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 11/26/05 | 11/19/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 320 | 337 | -7.5% | 343 | 402 | 404 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,767 | 1.1% | 2,926 | 3,531 | 3,570 |
