[Erik Latranyi]

Isn’t this the second week that claims fall because the previous week’s number was revised upward?

[NE Cons]

Isn’t this the second week that claims fall because the previous week’s number was revised upward?

It's a game of shells... EVERY week, they revise the previous week upwards, so it looks like there's a decrease. So... Last week was reported as 370,000... Revised upward to 372,000... So, today's 370,000 looks like a dip... Fuzzy math

If they wanted to be fair about it, they'd always incorporate the revision together with the new change. In this case... DOWN 2,000 from the REVISED figure from last week, and UP 2,000 due to the revision...

Flat. Period. No change. The rest is bull.

[jiggyboy]

Second in a row, for sure. Like a print version of TV news anchors, they just print whatever is put in front of them.

[Roccus]

Isn’t this the second week that claims fall because the previous week’s number was revised upward?

This is a regular event going back months and months.

[newzjunkey]

Isn’t this the second week that claims fall because the previous week’s number was revised upward?

Close. They claimed last week was "unchanged" because last week's initial was the same as the prior week's revision upward.

3 wks ago: 368,000 (initial), 370,000 (revised)
2 wks ago: 370,000 (initial), 372,000 (revised)
1 wk  ago: 370,000 (initial).

Their spin? It got better, economists surveyed were wrong about it being unchanged when the initial this week was unchanged vs initial last week.

[kcvl]

“revised up to 372,000”

The numbers have been revised up 17 weeks in a row.

They had been revised up 62 out of the last 63 weeks. That’s how you know it’s Thursday. Unemployment claims will be revised upwards.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/05/17/it_s_thursday_jobless_numbers_revised_up

[Eleutheria5]

Yes. All suggesting a moderately expanding economy where weekly claims are regularly adjusted upward, causing the next week to be slightly lower. No other possible interpretation in the land of Wishthinkia./s

[expat2]

It happens frequently. Clearly, comparing apples and apples, the number did not go down at all.

[xzins]

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 370,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week's figure was revised up to 372,000 from the previously reported 370,000.

That is just about the neatest example of a numbers tap dance that I've ever seen in my lifetime.

I'd be embarrassed to write it, much less announce it from some bureaucratic office.

So, the announced number went from 370,000 to 370,000, last week to this week. To get the "improved" line for the media, the last week number was revised upward to 372,000.

idiots run our government.