Recent Updates
- UK: Gfk Consumer Confidence Barometer (Jan)
- Japan: CPI (Dec)
- US: New Residential Construction (Dec)
- New Zealand: External Migration (Nov), CPI (Q4)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index Jumps in January
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Factory Sector Business Conditions Index jumped to January to 26.5...
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Ease, but Are Still High
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 900,000 in the week ended January 16...
French Surveys Improve Despite Ongoing Virus Issues
The spread of the virus in Franc is still untamed...
U.S. Home Builder Sentiment Slips in January
The Composite Housing Market Index from the NAHB-Wells Fargo declined 3.5% m/m (+10.7% y/y) in January...
Decline in Refinancing Drags Down U.S. Mortgage Applications
The MBA Mortgage Loan Applications Index fell 1.9% w/w (+56.2% y/y) in the weekend January 15...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller April 12, 2018
Initial claims for jobless insurance fell to 233,000 (-1.3% y/y) during the week ended April 7 from an unrevised 242,000 in the prior week. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey had been for 230,000 claims. The four-week moving average rose slightly to 230,000, but remained near the lowest level since March 1973.
In the week ended March 31, continuing claims for unemployment insurance increased 2.9% to 1.871 million (-7.2% y/y) and reversed the prior week's decline. The four-week moving average of claimants slipped to 1.850 million, the lowest level since January 1974.
The insured rate of unemployment remained at the record low of 1.3%.
Insured rates of unemployment varied widely by state. During the week ended March 24, the lowest rates of unemployment were Florida (0.47%), North Carolina (0.48%), Georgia (0.60%), Indiana (0.62%) and Virginia (0.64%). The highest rates were in Montana (2.24%), Rhode Island (2.34%), Connecticut (2.62%), New Jersey (2.72%) and Alaska (3.24%). 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) | 04/07/18 | 03/31/18 | 03/24/18 | Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initial Claims | 233 | 242 | 218 | -1.3 | 245 | 263 | 278 |
Continuing Claims | -- | 1,871 | 1,818 | -7.2 | 1,961 | 2,136 | 2,267 |
Insured Unemployment Rate (%) | -- | 1.3 | 1.3 |
1.4 |
1.4 | 1.6 | 1.7 |