– by New Deal democrat If residual post-pandemic seasonality has been affecting jobless claims statistics, the real acid test is going to begin next week, as for the next 7+ months, any number higher than 220,000 is almost always going to be higher than one year ago. In the meantime, for this our last week of the seasonal downtrend, initial jobless claims rose 2,000 to 230,000. The four week moving average rose 750 to 230,750. Continuing...
Read More »Initial claims jolted awake from snooze-fest by highest number in almost nine months
– by New Deal democrat After several months of snoozing at almost identical weekly levels, initial jobless claims awoke with a bit of a jolt this week, increasing by 22,000 to 231,000, the highest weekly number since last August. The four week average unsurprisingly also rose, by 4,750, to 215,000. With the usual one week delay, continuing claims rose 17,000 to 1.785 million, still one of the lowest readings since last August: As usual, the...
Read More »Despite 6+ month low in initial claims, yellow caution flag remains
Despite 6+ month low in initial claims, yellow caution flag remains – by New Deal democrat Last week the initial claims numbers justified restarting the yellow caution flag. This week initial jobless claims declined -13,000 to a 6+ month low of 216,000. The 4-week moving average declined -8,500 to 229,250. With a one-week lag, continuing claims declined 40,000 to 1.679 million: Since last year ago at this time also saw a steep decline, it...
Read More »Four week average of initial claims drops below “yellow flag” level, for now
Four week average of initial claims drops below “yellow flag” level, for now – by New Deal democrat While GDP will get the lion’s share of attention today (and I’ll post on it later on), by and large it is a look in the rear view mirror. The more forward-looking data is weekly jobless claims. This week initial claims declined -16,000 last week to 230,000. The more important 4 week average declined -4,000 to 236,000. Continuing claims, with...
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