Global| Sep 22 2005Unemployment Insurance Claims Again High Due to Hurricane
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose another 8,000 w/w to 432,000 last week following an upwardly revised 97,000 surge the prior week. Consensus expectations had been for 450,000 claims. The Labor Department indicated that [...]
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose another 8,000 w/w to 432,000 last week following an upwardly revised 97,000 surge the prior week. Consensus expectations had been for 450,000 claims.
The Labor Department indicated that 103,000 jobless claims last week and 91,000 the week prior were related to Hurricane Katrina which struck the Gulf Coast on August 29th. Last week, a 49,665 rise in claims in Louisiana was mostly Hurricane related and a 5,177 rise in Mississippi was all Hurricane related. Unadjusted, initial claims fell slightly w/w in California, New Jersey and in Pennsylvania.
The four-week moving average of initial claims rose to 376,250 (10.4% y/y) from 347,250 during the prior four weeks.
The latest claims figure covers the survey period for September nonfarm payrolls and claims were up 113,000 (35.4%) from the August period.
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance jumped 88,000 during the latest week following a lessened 8,000 rise the week prior.
The insured rate of unemployment rose to 2.1% following nine weeks at 2.0%.
Unemployment and Vacancy Fluctuations in the Matching Model: Inspecting the Mechanism from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is available here.
| Unemployment Insurance (000s) | 09/17/05 | 09/10/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 432 | 424 | 23.4% | 343 | 402 | 404 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 2,666 | -7.1% | 2,926 | 3,531 | 3,570 |
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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