Recent Updates
- China: 70-City Property Prices (Sep), Capacity Utilization, GDP (Q3)
- US: Regional Retail Sales (Sep)
- Spain: Motor Vehicle Registrations (Sep)
- Canada Regional: CPI by Province (Sep), Retail Trade by Province (Aug)
- Canada: CPI (Sep), Retail Trade (Aug)
- Ireland: General Government Debt, General Government Transactions (Q2)
- Latvia: PPI (Sep)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Canadian Retail Sales Weaken As Inflation Slows
Canada's retail sales show relatively widespread deceleration...
U.S. Leading Economic Indicators Strengthen
The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.5% (7.0% y/y) during September...
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Growth Continues; Pricing Pressure Eases
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index dipped to 22.2 during October...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Ease
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 210,000 (-8.7% y/y) during the week ended October 13...
U.K. Retail Sales: Doing Well-As-Can-Be-Expected Despite September Drop
U.K. retail sales and growth have all held up remarkably well- so far...
by Tom Moeller February 1, 2007
A 20,000 drop in initial unemployment insurance claims last week to 307.000 reversed half of the upwardly revised increase the prior week. Consensus expectations had been for 315,000 claims.
During the last ten years there has been a (negative) 77% correlation between the level of initial claims and the m/m change in nonfarm payroll employment.
The four-week moving average of initial claims fell to 304,750 (6.6% y/y).
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance jumped 71,000 (1.1% y/y).
The insured rate of unemployment remained at 1.9%, about where it's been since February.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 01/27/07 | 01/20/07 | Y/Y | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 307 | 327 | 8.1% | 313 | 332 | 343 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,484 | -3.2% | 2,459 | 2,662 | 2,924 |
