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Last Update: 29-Dec-11 09:39 ET
Initial Claims Move Higher, Most Likely Normal Volatility
After reaching its lowest point in three years, the initial claims level reversed direction and increased from 366,000 for the week ending December 17 to 381,000 for the week ending December 24. The Briefing.com consensus expected the initial claims level to increase to 368,000.
The DOL announced that claims from seven states had to be estimated due to the public holiday on Monday. Typically, the estimates from the DOL are in-line with the actual claims level, but it could explain why initial claims increased more than expected last week.
Even if the DOL's estimates are accurate, the increase in claims should not be seen as an alarm that the labor sector is again starting to weaken. The initial claims level had fallen precipitously over the previous few weeks and minor upward shift is likely normal volatility.
The continuing claims level increased from 3.567 mln for the week ending December 7 to 3.601 mln for the week ending December 14, exactly what the consensus expected.
The DOL announced that claims from seven states had to be estimated due to the public holiday on Monday. Typically, the estimates from the DOL are in-line with the actual claims level, but it could explain why initial claims increased more than expected last week.
Even if the DOL's estimates are accurate, the increase in claims should not be seen as an alarm that the labor sector is again starting to weaken. The initial claims level had fallen precipitously over the previous few weeks and minor upward shift is likely normal volatility.
The continuing claims level increased from 3.567 mln for the week ending December 7 to 3.601 mln for the week ending December 14, exactly what the consensus expected.
