Thursday, February 12, 2015

Jobs -- Uh-Oh -- February 12, 2015; Claims Surge 25,000; Back Over 300,000

Source.
  • Expected:  288K
  • Actual: 304K
  • Prior (revised up 1K): 279
  • Change: first time claims surged 25,000
Can't wait to read the spin.

Here's Reuters: claims rise more than expected --
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment rose more than expected last week, but the underlying trend remained consistent with a strengthening labour market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 304,000 for the week.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 285,000 last week.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labour market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 3,250 to 289,750 last week.
The four-week decrease is, of course, spurious due to an anomaly in the unemployment numbers a couple of weeks ago. The four-week average will be back up next week. 

Economists forecast claims of 285,000 but in fact -- 304,000.

But yet, Reuters says this is all consistent with a strengthening labour market.

There are rumors Brian Williams is writing for Reuters.

It is interesting that Yahoo!Finance did not even mention the jobs story -- the Reuters headline was "below the fold." Had the news been good, it would have been a headline story ABOVE the fold. 

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