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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...
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...
Euro Area Inflation Persists in Negative Territory
Euro area inflation is negative on a year-over-year basis for five months in a row...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller February 6, 2020
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 15,000 to 202,000 (-11.8% y/y) during the week ended February 1 from 217,000 in the prior week, revised from 216,000. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 215,000 initial claims. The four-week moving average of initial claims declined to 211,750, the lowest level since mid-April 2019.
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance in the week ended January 25 increased to 1.751 million (2.1% y/y) from an unrevised 1.703 million. The four-week moving average of claimants fell to 1.742 million, its lowest level in four weeks.
The insured rate of unemployment held steady at 1.2%, where it has been since mid-November.
Insured unemployment rates vary widely by state. During the week ending January 18, the lowest rates were in Florida (0.39%), North Carolina (0.51%), Nebraska (0.53%), Virginia (0.58%) and Tennessee (0.64%). The highest rates were in West Virginia (2.50%), Connecticut (2.52%), Montana (2.60%), New Jersey (2.67%) and Alaska (3.09%). Among the other largest states by population, the rate was 1.08% in Texas, 1.75% in New York and 1.95% in California. These state data are not seasonally adjusted.
Data on weekly unemployment claims dating back to 1967 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) | 02/01/20 | 01/25/20 | 01/18/20 | Y/Y % | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initial Claims | 202 | 217 | 223 | -11.8 | 218 | 220 | 244 |
Continuing Claims | -- | 1,751 | 1,703 | 2.1 | 1,700 | 1,756 | 1,961 |
Insured Unemployment Rate (%) | -- | 1.2 | 1.2 |
1.2 |
1.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 |