Unemployment Numbers Improve, with Some Caveats
The pair of economic reports that precede Friday's national unemployment figures sound pretty hopeful on the whole, but each one has a caveat.
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Thursday's weekly report of first-time unemployment claims brought some unexpectedly good news, as the number of those seeking the benefit fell dramatically from the previous week, but the GDP also fell.
The pair of economic reports that precede Friday's national unemployment figures sound pretty hopeful on the whole, but each one has a caveat.
The weekly report of how many people are filing for unemployment benefits has been something of a seesaw all month, and the day before the national unemployment rate comes out they're up by 8,000 to 365,000, which still beat economists' expectations.
If the weekly unemployment benefits claims report was a vehicle and we were passengers, we'd all have whiplash by now as the number changed sharply once again, this time falling 35,000 to an initial figure of 353,000.
Last week's excitement about plummeting unemployment claims was short-lived, as the Department of Labor report showed the number of U.S. workers applying for benefits rose last week even higher than it fell the week before.
The weekly report of how many people are applying for unemployment benefits delivered good news on Thursday, plummeting 26,000 to a four-year low of 350,000.
Thursday saw some unexpectedly hopeful employment data from both the U.S. government and private analysts, as the number of initial employment claims fell 14,000 for the week while payroll firm ADP reported the country added 176,000 jobs in June.
After last month's annoyingly high unemployment report, the news that first-time unemployment benefits claims fell by 12,000 last week is a move in the right direction, albeit a modest one.
After a month of steady increases, the initial weekly number of people applying for unemployment benefits finally fell again on Thursday, to 365,000 from 392,000, a decline of 27,000.
The steady trend of declining applications for unemployment benefits certainly seems to be at an end, as 386,000 people sought the benefits last week, down 2,000 from the previous revised figure of 388,000 but up from the preliminary 380,000 reported a week ago.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits spiked from its four-year low last week, with 13,000 more people applying for a total initial number of 380,000 nationwide.
The number of people filing initial unemployment insurance claims fell 6,000 from last week, to an initial figure of 357,000, still their lowest since April, 2008.
The number of people filing for unemployment for the first time dropped by 5,000 last week, hitting its lowest level since February 2008.
The national unemployment rate held steady last month, but the weekly number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time has been fluctuating pretty widely, falling by 14,000 in the last week after the previous week's gain of 8,000.
Heightening the anticipation for Friday's official report on the unemployment rate, the weekly figure for those claiming jobless benefits for the first time rose by 8,000 on Thursday -- its highest rate in five weeks.
Even fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week than the two weeks prior, during which the number had hovered at a four-year low.
The number of people applying for unemployment insurance last week stayed the same as the week before, which is not a bad place to be since it marks a four-year low.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits last week fell to its lowest level since March 2008, with 13,000 fewer claiming the benefits than the previous week, for a national total of 348,000.
This week's unemployment claims report certainly looks hopeful: The number of people applying for benefits fell 12,000 to 367,000 after last week's slight uptick to 379,000, the Department of Labor reports.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits climbed a bit last week, with 21,000 more people seeking assistance than the week before, for a total of 377,000 claiming the benefit.
The weekly measure of those applying for unemployment benefits is back to a steady decline, dropping 50,000 last week to 352,000 — its lowest level since April 2008.
Thanks to layoffs of seasonal workers, claims for unemployment benefits are up this week as the U.S. Department of Labor reported a weekly increase of 24,000.
Some 15,000 fewer people filed for unemployment benefits last week than the week before, bringing the total number of people claiming the benefits down to 372,000.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose last week for the first time in a month, but an average measure that economists use showed the claims continuing their downward trend of late.
Initial unemployment benefits claims have dropped again, this time to 388,000, down from last week's 393,000, according to the Department of Labor's numbers this morning.
After a rough day for markets, there's some mildly optimistic news for the U.S. economy on Thursday morning: initial unemployment benefits claims fell to 390,000, the lowest level in seven months and the second straight week under the magic number of 400,000.
Mildly better news arrived from the Labor Department's Thursday report on jobless claims filings: the seasonally adjusted initial claims were below the magic number of 400,000, which has been noted as indicator that U.S. unemployment rate may be easing.
Labor Department report shows that those filing for jobless claims is still above 400,000
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all open down on Thursday morning
Last week's 398,000 new unemployment benefit claims is the lowest level in three months
Unemployment benefit claims rose to 418,000 last week
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