Global| Dec 04 2008U.S. Weekly Claims For Jobless Insurance Fell, But Month's Level Still High
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
For the second consecutive week, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell. Nevertheless, claims remained near their highest level since the last recession. The 21,000 drop to 509,000 followed a little-revised 13,000 decline [...]
For the second consecutive week, initial claims for unemployment insurance fell. Nevertheless, claims remained near their highest level since the last recession. The 21,000 drop to 509,000 followed a little-revised 13,000 decline during the prior week. Still, claims for all of last month rose 9.8% from the October average.
Expectations had been for claims last week of 535,000. The four-week moving average of initial claims rose to this cycle's high of 524,500 (54.3% y/y).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending November 22 were in California (+10,882), Ohio (+6,658), Michigan (+6,611), Indiana (+6,501), and Missouri (+5,820), while the largest decreases were in Nebraska (-72), Utah (-37), the Virgin Islands (-8), and North Dakota (-4).
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance during the week of November 22 rose 89,000 after the prior week's revised 18,000 decline. The four-week average of continuing claims rose to a new cycle high of 4,001,750, the highest since 1982. Continuing claims provide some indication of workers' ability to find employment and they lag the initial claims figures by one week.
The insured rate of unemployment rose to a new cycle high of 3.1%. The Commerce Department indicated the highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending November 15 were in Puerto Rico (5.2 percent), Oregon (4.5), Michigan (4.0), Nevada (4.0), Alaska (3.9), California (3.8), Pennsylvania (3.8), Idaho (3.7), New Jersey (3.7), and South Carolina (3.6).
The latest Beige Book from the Federal Reserve covering regional economic conditions can be found here.
The Community Reinvestment Act and the Recent Mortgage Crisis is yesterday's speech by Fed GovernorRandall S. Kroszner it is available here.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 11/29/08 | 11/22/08 | 11/15/08 | Y/Y | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 509 | 530 | 543 | 49.7% | 322 | 313 | 331 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 4,087 | 3,998 | 56.5% | 2,552 | 2,459 | 2,662 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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