US – Unemployment Claims : An Uncertain Job Market Outlook

After last week announcement of an increase of 34,000, DOL says that Unemployment Inssurrance Claims dropped by 23,000. The real job market coudn’t be that volatile. But it shows how incertain is the job market outlook.

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  SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending October 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 369,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 392,000. The 4-week moving average was 368,000, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 366,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5 percent for the week ending October 13, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 13 was 3,254,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,256,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,269,750, a decrease of 6,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,276,500.

via ETA Press Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report.

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Jobless Claims in U.S. Show Limited Labor Market Progress

The number of Americans filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, returning to a level that shows the labor market is making limited progress.

U.S. Jobless claims decreased by 23,000 to 369,000 in the week ended Oct. 20 from a revised 392,000 the prior period, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. Demand for durable goods climbed 9.9 percent last month, reflecting a rebound in airplane orders. Bookings for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, were little changed, a Commerce Department report showed today. Betty Liu and Michael Mckeee report on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Jobless claims decreased by 23,000 to 369,000 in the week ended Oct. 20 from a revised 392,000 the prior period, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. The drop comes after weeks of big swings in the figures caused by difficulties in adjusting the data for seasonal variations.

The data signals employers are seeing enough demand to maintain existing staffing levels even amid growing concern about a slowing global economy and the looming fiscal cliff of tax increases and government spending cuts that will take effect in 2013.

“Claims are signaling more of the same in the labor market,” said Kevin Cummins, an economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, who forecast applications would drop to 370,000. “There is no pickup, nor any further deceleration. Employment growth is moving along at a pretty disappointing pace.”..

 Choosen excerpts by JMM from

via Jobless Claims in U.S. Show Limited Labor Market Progress – Bloomberg.