Recent Updates
- Singapore: International Trade Press (Apr)
- Japan: Monetary Survey (Apr)
- Korea: Foreign Exchange Transactions, Household Loans (Apr)
- Pakistan: Foreign Currency Deposits and Utilization (APR)
- Euro area: Spring Update (2023)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Surging Imports Send the EMU Trade Scene Deeper into Deficit
The trade balance for the Euro Area fell sharply to 17.5 billion euros in March...
U.S. Import Prices Hold Steady While Export Prices Rise in April
Import prices held steady m/m (+12.0% y/y) in April...
EMU IP Drops Month-to-Month and Year-over-Year
Industrial output among EMU members fell by 1.8% month-to-month in March...
U.S. Producer Price Inflation Moderates in April
The Producer Price Index for Final Demand increased 0.5% during April...
U.S. Housing Affordability Plunges in March
Affordable homes are in short supply...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation & 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?
"Core" GDP Suggests Economy Gained Momentum in Q1:2022
by Tom Moeller April 7, 2022
• Decline is to lowest level since November 1968.
• Continued weeks claimed edge higher.
• Insured unemployment rate holds at record low.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance of 166,000 in the week ended April 2 (-74.3% y/y) compared to 171,000 in the prior week, revised from 202,000. It equaled the lowest level of initial claims since November 1968. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 200,000 claims for the latest week. The 4-week moving average of initial claims fell to 170,000 from 178,000 in the prior week. The figures were revised from 2017 to 2021.
In the week ended March 26, continued weeks claimed for unemployment insurance of 1.523 million compared to 1.506 million in the prior week, revised from 1.307 million. These figures were the lowest since December 1969.
The insured unemployment rate held steady at the record low of 1.1%. The prior week's figure was revised from 0.9%.
In the week ended March 12, the number of continued weeks claimed in all unemployment insurance programs fell to 1.723 million from 1.776 million in the prior week. This total includes federal employees, 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.
The state insured rates of unemployment in regular programs vary widely. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending March 19 were in California (2.40%), New Jersey (2.37%), Alaska (2.16%), Minnesota (2.11%), Rhode Island (2.07%), and Massachusetts (1.98%). The lowest rates were in Virginia (0.18%), Alabama (0.20%), North Carolina (0.32%), Tennessee (0.38%), Florida (0.39%) and Texas (0.83%).
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) | 04/02/22 | 03/26/22 | 03/19/22 | Y/Y % | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initial Claims | 166.0 | 171.0 | 166.0 | -74.3 | 477.0 | 1,354.0 | 218.0 |
Initial Claims (NSA) | 193.1 | 196.8 | 182.3 | -71.1 | 469.2 | 1,352.1 | 217.6 |
Continuing Claims | -- | 1,523.0 | 1,506.0 | -60.5 | 3,257.0 | 10,384.0 | 1,697.0 |
Continuing Claims (NSA) | -- | 1,651.0 | 1,671.0 | -58.7 | 3,252.0 | 10,370.0 | 1,704.0 |
Insured Unemployment Rate (%) | -- | 1.1 | 1.1 |
2.7 |
2.3 | 7.1 | 1.2 |