Jobless claims "unexpectadly" rise

[tsetsefly]

surprise, surprise...

Jobless claims in surprise rise Initial filings jump unexpectedly to 576,000 in latest week, a continuing sign of labor market weakness. Continuing claims also increase. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) --

The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance rose last week, the government said Thursday, surprising economists. There were 576,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Aug. 15, up from a revised 561,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in a weekly report.

A consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected only 550,000 new claims. The 4-week moving average of initial claims was 570,000, up 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 565,750. Continuing claims: The government said 6,241,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended August 8, the most recent data available. That's up 2,000 from the preceding week's revised 6,239,000 claims.

[c1ue]

Re: Jobless claims "unexpectadly" rise

If you look at the graph of initial claims vs. continuing claims, it would seem clear that the only reason continuing claims is not rising is due to cessation of unemployment benefits.

From the government:

http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/wkclaims/report.asp

init claims 010308 072509.bmp

cont claims 010308 072509.bmp

The point of this exercise is that while initial claims have fallen a bit from its peak (latest peak :eek, the dropoff is nowhere near what the continuing claims justifies.

The 'unadjusted' numbers are also interesting as bart has alluded to many times before.

In fact, looking at the graphs, it might appear that there is some average of actual unemployment benefit duration - 2 or 3 months it would appear.

[ricket]

Re: Jobless claims "unexpectadly" rise

http://www.ajc.com/business/georgia-...bs-119797.html

"These jobless workers could comprise a mythical unemployment line that stretches from Dalton to Atlanta, through Macon and down to Valdosta.”

For those not familiar with the state of Georgia, that's about a 300+ mile long line and would stretch across the entire state from the northern border with Tennessee to the southern border of Florida.

[ST]

Re: Jobless claims "unexpectadly" rise

surprise, surprise...

And on that news, the market is .....up. The nonsense continues.