The number of persons filing an initial claim for unemployment insurance in the week just ended May 30 declined to 621,000 from 625,000 the prior week.  In addition, the number of persons still receiving unemployment insurance dropped to 6.735 million.  Both of these figures are seasonally-adjusted.
With initial claims still over 600,000 and continuing jobless claims [...]

If you thought jobless claims would fall off rapidly after a peak was made, you were mistaken because we seem to be in a holding pattern above 600,000.  The weekly report for unemployment insurance claims in the U.S. showed 623,000 filing a claim, with a record 6.8 million people still on unemployment insurance.  Now, mind [...]

I’m back after a brief hiatus.  I would like to present you with some data on jobless claims, an economic data series that will become increasingly important in the weeks and months ahead.  The data suggest that a recovery is imminent. This should come as no surprise as everyone is jumping on the [...]

Initial jobless claims rose 32,000 to 637,000 last week in the United States. This helped push continuing claims to another record of 6.56 million, suggesting the unemployment rate will continue to rise at a worrying pace going forward.  The best way to describe this report is weak.
Nevertheless, initial claims (1st derivative) have trended down since [...]

Last week, the number of people filing new unemployment claims dipped to 601,000 on a seasonally-adjusted (SA) basis.  The unadjusted number (NSA) was even lower at 534,047.  This most recent data should bring cheer to the markets as it comes the heels of a better than anticipated unemployment report yesterday from ADP, the payroll processing [...]

I have done my part over the past few weeks to write that I thought jobless claims signaled the potential for recovery. I started the drumbeat in late March. Here are the posts:

Initial jobless claims came in above 600,000 for the 12th straight week at 640,000. Continuing claims came in at a record 6.1 million, up 3 million from this time last year. Both of these numbers suggest a very weak market and you can bet you bottom dollar this will be reflected in the unemployment report due out early next month. But, how weak is the jobs picture really?

Jobless claims in the U.S. fell to a three month low of 610,000 on a seasonally-adjusted basis in another clear sign that fewer people are filing for jobless claims than early in the year.  Nevertheless, 600,000 more filed for claims this past week and a record 6 million are still claiming benefits.
I have been fairly [...]

Tomorrow, we all await the unemployment number with anticipation.  In all likelihood, it is going to be a nasty number edging us ever closer to the 9.0% I once saw as a sort of upper range number for 2009.
Meanwhile, jobless claims for the week ended March 28 are out.  The reported numbers of 669,000 initial [...]

Jobless claims for the week ending March 21st are in. There were 652,000 initial claims last week, bringing the unemployment roles to a record 5.56 million. Both figures are seasonally-adjusted and reflect minor changes in seasonal adjustment (SA) factors going back a few years.
What do the figures tell us? Well, the year-on-year comparisons [...]