Recent Updates
- Macao: Visitor Arrivals (Apr)
- Turkey: Domestic Debt by Holder (APR)
- UK Regional: Northern Ireland: Mortgage Possession (Q1)
- UK Regional: GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer by Region (May)
- North Macedonia: Broad Money, Other Depository Corporations'
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
UK Consumer Sentiment Hits Lowest Reading since 1996
(when the GFK survey began; also lowest reading 'ever')
Of these 13 readings eight of them declined on the month in May three of them improved and two of them were unchanged...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Fall in April as Houses Become Less Affordable
The combination of soaring home prices across the nation and rising interest rates is making homes less affordable...
U.S. Index of Leading Indicators Fell in April
Five of the index's components fell in April, one was unchanged and four increased...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Rose in the Latest Week
The state insured rates of unemployment in regular programs vary widely...
CBI Gauge in the UK Continues to Be Upbeat
The global economy has a lot of challenges...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Profits and Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation and Fed Policy: A Relationship which Should Worry the Fed and Scare Investors
Why Have the Yields on TIPS Been Negative in the Past Two Years?
by Carol Stone, CBE March 24, 2022
• Initial claims noticeably lower than forecast.
• Continued claims below pre-pandemic amounts.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance were 187,000 in the week ended March 19 (-71.6% y/y) following 215,000 the week before. That prior week was revised from 214,000 reported before. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 211,000 claims for the latest week. The 4-week moving average of initial claims decreased to 211,750 from 223,250 in the prior week.
In the week ended March 12, continued weeks claimed for unemployment insurance were 1.350 million, down from 1.417 million in the previous week. These figures are below the 1.715 million of March 7, 2020, immediately before the pandemic and are also the lowest since 1970. The insured unemployment rate remained at the record low 1.0% of the March 5 week. As noted in last week’s commentary, these data on the insured unemployment rate began in 1971.
In the week ended March 5, the number of continued weeks claimed in all unemployment insurance programs decreased 110,749 to 1.858 million. This total includes federal employee, newly discharged veterans, extended benefits and other specialized programs. Continued claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation are no longer reported as both programs have expired; they were last reported for the week ended February 19.
The state insured rates of unemployment in regular programs vary widely. In the week ending March 5, the highest insured unemployment rates were in California (2.53%), New Jersey (2.36%), Rhode Island (2.32%), Alaska (2.29%) and Illinois (2.26%). The lowest rates were in Virginia (0.18%), Alabama (0.21%), North Carolina (0.32%), Tennessee (0.41%) and Florida (0.42%). Other state insured rates of unemployment in regular programs include New York (2.11%). Pennsylvania (1.83%), Ohio (1.06%) and Texas (0.83%). These state rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Data on weekly unemployment claims going 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 and is in the AS1REPNA database.
Unemployment Insurance (SA, 000s) | 03/19/22 | 03/12/22 | 03/05/22 | Y/Y % | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initial Claims | 187.0 | 215.0 | 229.0 | -71.6 | 473.3 | 1,352.1 | 218.0 |
Initial Claims (NSA) | 181.1 | 203.9 | 219.9 | -72.2 | 473.0 | 1,352.7 | 217.6 |
Continuing Claims | -- | 1,350.0 | 1,417.0 | -64.9 | 3,260.9 | 10,379.7 | 1,699.0 |
Continuing Claims (NSA) | -- | 1,731.0 | 1,804.0 | -59.1 | 3,259.7 | 10,369.7 | 1,703.6 |
Insured Unemployment Rate (%) | -- | 1.0 | 1.0 |
2.7 |
2.3 | 7.1 | 1.2 |