Recent Updates
- US: Import & Export Prices, IP & Capacity Utilization (Jan), Monthly GDP (Nov)
- US: Monthly GDP (Nov)
- Housing Market Statistics (Jan)
- *Israel CPI rebased to 2018=100*
- US: Industrial Production Detail (Jan)
- Canada: International Transactions in Securities (Dec)
- US: Empire State Mfg Survey (Feb)
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- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Import Prices Continue Their Decline; Both Oil and Nonoil Prices Move Lower
Import prices fell a greater-than-expected 0.5% during January (-1.7% year-on-year)...
Empire State Manufacturing Activity Improves Modestly
The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions rose to 8.8 during February...
U.S. Retail Sales Exhibit Extensive Weakness
Total retail sales declined 1.2% (+2.3% y/y) during December...
U.S. Producer Prices Decline; Core PPI Rises
The headline Final Demand Producer Price Index edged down 0.1% for the second consecutive month in January (+2.0% y/y)...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Edge Back Higher
Initial claims for unemployment insurance were 239,000 in the week ended February 9...
by Tom Moeller November 16, 2017
Initial claims for unemployment insurance increased to 249,000 (4.2% y/y) during the week ended November 11 from an unrevised 239,000 in the prior week. Expectations had been for 234,000 claims in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The four-week moving average rose to 237,750 but remained near the record low. During the last ten years there has been a 74% correlation between the level of initial claims and the m/m change in nonfarm payrolls
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance declined to 1.860 million (-7.3% y/y) in the week ended November 4 from 1.904 million the week prior. The four-week moving average of claimants fell to 1.887 million, the lowest point since January 1974.
The insured unemployment rate returned to the record low of 1.3%.
Insured rates of unemployment varied across the country. For the week ended October 28, the lowest insured rates of unemployment were in South Dakota (0.26%), Nebraska (0.39%), North Dakota (0.46%), Indiana (0.46%), North Carolina (0.47%) and Utah (0.53 %). The highest rates continued to be in Massachusetts (1.57%), Pennsylvania (1.67%), Connecticut (1.82%), California (1.89%), New Jersey (2.06%) and Alaska (2.86%). These state data are not seasonally adjusted.
Data on weekly unemployment insurance are contained in Haver's WEEKLY database and they are summarized monthly in USECON. Data for individual states are in REGIONW. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey, carried in the AS1REPNA database.
Unemployment Insurance (SA, 000s) | 11/11/17 | 11/04/17 | 10/28/17 | Y/Y % | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initial Claims | 249 | 239 | 229 | 4.2 | 263 | 278 | 308 |
Continuing Claims | -- | 1,860 | 1,904 | -7.3 | 2,136 | 2,267 | 2,599 |
Insured Unemployment Rate (%) | -- | 1.3 | 1.4 |
1.5 |
1.6 | 1.7 | 2.0 |