Jobless claims jumped to 362,000 last week, above forecasts; productivity cut.
But Bloomberg headlined at 8 am this morning that Jobless Claims Probably Fell to 340,000, the Fourth Decline in Five Weeks-The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits may have dropped last week to 340,000, a level consistent with enough job growth to sustain the economic expansion, economists forecast ahead of today's government report.
Guess they were wrong about jobs.
And the rate of productivity growth was the slowest since late 2002 with nonfarm output per worker hour growing at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, down from the 2.9 percent pace initially reported last month and the slowest clip since the fourth quarter of 2002's 1.6 percent rate.
Indeed the 8 am guess for productivity was a 2.7 percent rate, down from the first qtr's 3.7 percent annual clip - but then we work more for less as hours worked rose at a 1.0 percent clip, up from 0.8 percent in the original estimate, and Unit labor costs were revised down in the report. Costs gained at a 1.8 percent pace, off slightly from the 1.9 percent rate seen in the initial report. First-quarter unit labor costs were revised sharply lower, to falling at 1.6 percent rate from rising at a 0.3 percent pace in the previous report.
In the week ending Aug. 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 343,000 and - surprise - for the week ending Aug. 21, the advance figure is also the final figure for that week!
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htmSeptember 2, 2004 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending Aug. 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 362,000, an increase of 19,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 343,000. The 4-week moving average was 343,000, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 336,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending Aug. 21, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.3 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 21 was 2,882,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,887,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,887,250, a decrease of 4,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,892,000.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 276,601 in the week ending Aug. 28, an increase of 3,805 from the previous week. There were 319,362 initial claims in the comparable week in 2003.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent during the week ending Aug. 21, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,631,147, a decrease of 70,724 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.6 percent and the volume was 3,252,130.
Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Aug. 14.
3,180 individuals filed continued claims under the Federal Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation (TEUC) program during the week ending Aug. 14.
Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,161 in the week ending Aug. 21, a decrease of 511 from the prior week. There were 2,156 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 12 from the preceding week.
There were 17,507 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Aug. 14, a decrease of 1,018 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 26,777, an increase of 6 from the prior week.
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