U.S. Jobless Claims Come In Above Estimates But Continue To Be Distorted

RTT News ^ | 10/24/2013

[SeekAndFind]

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by less than expected in the week ended October 19th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday, although the data continued to be distorted.

The report said initial jobless claims dropped to 350,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 362,000. Economists had expected claims to fall to 340,000 from the 358,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Jobless claims fell for the second consecutive week, partly offsetting the substantial jump that was seen in the week ended October 5th.

However, the Labor Department said the data continued to be impacted by a claims backlog in California as well as the government shutdown.

Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial said, said, "All in all, with California distorting the headline number alongside a lack of clarity around the government shutdown, this report fails to deliver much useful information."

The report showed that the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 348,250, an increase of 10,750 from the previous week's revised average of 337,500.

Meanwhile, continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, dipped to 2.874 million in the week ended October 12th from the preceding week's revised level of 2.882 million.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims climbed to 2,894,750, an increase of 13,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,881,500.

[SeekAndFind]

It's FUN WITH THURSDAY JOB NUMBERS ONCE AGAIN !!

[BlueStateRightist]

“Blah, blah, blah. Expected/Unexpected. Mending/rebounding/improving economy. Last week it was 350,000, or was it 375,000. The 4-week rolling average is 353,000, or is it 358,000?”

[The Antiyuppie]

I believe that they have run out of ways to fudge/lie with the numbers, hence, the uptick.