Market expectations for weekly initial unemployment claims (from Econoday) was 215K to 221K (consensus 217K), and the Department of Labor reported 199,000 new claims. The more important (because of the volatility in the weekly reported claims and seasonality errors in adjusting the data) 4 week moving average moved from 220,500 (reported last week as 220,750) to 215,000. The rolling averages generally have been equal to or under 300,000 since August 2014.
Analyst Opinion of Initial Unemployment Claims
This marks 198 consecutive weeks of initial claims below 300,000, the longest streak since 1970. The general trend of the 4 week rolling average is a slowing rate of improvement year-over-year which historically suggests a slowing economy.
It should be pointed out that Econintersect watches the year-over-year change on the 4 week moving average. There is always some seasonality which migrates into the seasonally adjusted data, and year-over-year comparisons helps remove some seasonality. The four week rolling average of initial claims are 10.2 % lower (better than the 9.3 % lower for last week) than they were in this same week a year ago.
Claim levels are at 40 year lows (with the normal range around 350,000 weekly initial unemployment claims of levels seen historically during times of economic expansion – see chart below).
From the Department of Labor:
In the week ending January 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 199,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since November 15, 1969 when it was 197,000. The previous week’s level was revised down by 1,000 from 213,000 to 212,000. The 4-week moving average was 215,000, a decrease of 5,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 250 from 220,750 to 220,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending January 12, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 12 was 1,713,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 1,737,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,729,750, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 1,728,500.
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