Tag Archives: Payrolls

First time claims for unemployment insurance continued to move sideways, dropping 5,000 to 366,000 for the week ended February 2, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected a larger decline to 360,000 from the prior week’s 330,000 initial claims.

Consumer confidence picked up somewhat in January, but the recent payroll tax hike put a ceiling on any major gains, according to the latest survey of consumers from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan (UMich). The Index of Consumer Sentiment climbed slightly to 73.8 in January from December's 72.9. The index read 75.0 in January 2012. According to a release accompanying the survey, January's potential gains were dulled by the payroll tax increase, which has had a significant impact on lower income households.

If businesses had any reluctance to hire in December because of fiscal cliff concerns, they didn't make up for it in January: Payrolls expanded by 157,000, down from December, but the unemployment rate moved to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent a month earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. Job growth for December, originally reported at 155,000, was revised upward to 196,000. November's growth was revised to 247,000 from 161,000.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance jumped 38,000 to 368,000 for the week ending January 26, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected a smaller increase to 350,000 from the prior week's 330,000 initial claims. The weekly jump in initial claims was the first in three weeks. It reflected, in part, a drop in the seasonal adjustment factor the Labor Department applies to the raw data, which includes holiday workers whose jobs were eliminated. For the third straight week, the originally reported claims figure was unrevised.

Lincoln, Nebraska recorded a best-in-the-nation 3.4 percent unemployment rate in December as unemployment rates dropped in 290 of the 372 metropolitan areas in the county, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Wednesday. Three other metro areas reported unemployment rates of 4.0 percent or below: Lafayette and Lake Charles, Louisiana, at 3.7 percent each, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at 4.0 percent. The highest unemployment rates in the country, according to the BLS report, were in Yuma, Arizona, and El Centro, California, at 27.3 percent and 25.5 percent, respectively.

Despite seeing a month-over-month drop, the 10- and 20-city Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes registered their strongest year-over-year improvement in two and a half years on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, Standard & Poor's, which publishes the indexes, reported Tuesday. The 10-city index fell 0.2 percent, and the 20-city index dropped 0.1 percent from October to November. On an annual basis, however, the 10-city index was up 4.5 percent, and the 20-city index rose 5.5 percent.

Two housing reports in the week just demonstrated, yet again, economists are not infallible. On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported existing home sales for December: 4.94 million against a consensus forecast of 5.1 million. Then on Friday, the Census Bureau and HUD reported jointly 369,000 new homes were sold in December compared with a consensus forecast of 388,000. There are several important housing related reports due out next week, but they will take a backseat to the report on fourth quarter GDP and Friday's report on the employment situation.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell to another five-year low for the week ending January 19, dropping 5,000 to 330,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to increase to 360,000 from the prior week. The previous week's report was unchanged at 365,000, which had been the lowest level since January 2008.

Unemployment rates fell in 22 states in December but rose in 16, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday in its monthly Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) release. In November, unemployment rates dropped in 45 states. According to the LAUS report, the West had the highest regional unemployment rate--8.6 percent, down from 8.7 percent in November and 9.8 percent in December 2011. The Midwest registered the lowest unemployment rate with 7.1 percent, unchanged from November and down from 7.9 percent in December 2011.

Economic activity expanded in the closing weeks of 2012, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic Beige Book released Wednesday, reflecting a slow but steadily declining unemployment rate and low rates of inflation--conditions the Fed said would have to be met before it raises interest rates. According to the Beige Book, districts reported stronger consumer spending--about 70 percent of the nation's GDP--with holiday sales ""modestly higher"" than in 2011. At the same time, the report said business contacts were ""citing concerns that consumers will spend cautiously due to ongoing fiscal uncertainty.""