Global| Apr 27 2006Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Maintain Tight Range
Summary
Initial claims for jobless insurance are hovering in a narrow range as they once again reversed their previous week's move. After falling in the April 15 week from 314,000 to 304,000, they rose to 315,000 in the April 22 week. [...]
Initial claims for jobless insurance are hovering in a narrow range as they once again reversed their previous week's move. After falling in the April 15 week from 314,000 to 304,000, they rose to 315,000 in the April 22 week. Consensus expectations had been for a nearly unchanged reading at 305,000.
The prior week included both Christian and Jewish religious holidays, and that may have restrained filings in some areas. So it seems only a modest surprise that claims rebounded a bit last week. The four-week moving average is 308,500, within a few thousand of its level since early March. This is 6.5% below the year-ago amount.
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance rose 22,000 during the latest week, but the prior week was revised downward by 12,000, so there's a net increase of just 10,000 from the unrevised level.
The insured rate of unemployment continues at 1.9%, where it's been for almost two months. Notably, the lowest level ever for this rate was right at the end of the tech boom in the spring of 2000, when it was 1.6%. The current 1.9% reading is the next lowest in the 35-year history of these data.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 04/22/06 | 04/15/06 | 04/08/06 | Y/Y | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 315 | 304 | 314 | -3.1% | 332 | 343 | 403 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,449 | 2,427 | -5.4% | 2,663 | 2,923 | 3,530 |
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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