Jobless Claims Rise But Trend HINTS At Quicker Hiring; Claims Jump By 13,000

I cannot make it up. That's the headline at Reuters: Claims Rise But Trend Hints At Quicker Hiring.

Exactly what is that supposed to mean?

Okay, let's look at the story:

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week but held close to a six-year low and gave a positive signal for hiring during the month.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits climbed 13,000 to 336,000, just above the level expected by economists in a Reuters poll, Labor Department data showed on Thursday.

Wow. Initial claims jumped 13,000 -- that's one of the highest jumps in recent weeks, and Reuters  did what they could to bury it:

• second paragraph
• buried in a very long sentence
• "held close to a six-year low"
• "just above the level expected by economists in a Reuters poll"

 And the spin continues:

Despite the increase, the four-week moving average for claims, a better gauge for labour market trends, fell to its lowest level since November 2007, suggesting the economy was growing enough to fuel steady improvement in the labour market.

"We are looking at moderate job growth." 

At 330,500, the four-week average was about 5 percent lower than it was during the employment report's survey week in July, when employers added a lacklustre 162,000 jobs to payrolls.

But this says it all: the stock market showed no reaction. 

****************************

Question?

Last week everyone got excited when the number dropped 15,000! Today's report: back up 13,000. Back to 336,000. Now, let's do a bit of math: 336,000 - 13,000 = 323,000. So, last week's number of 320,000 must have been revised upward by 3,000 to 323,000 (which Reuters conveniently overlooked). So, last week's "15,000" drop was actually a 12,000 drop, which did not offset this week's jump. 

Disclaimer: I often make simple arithmetic errors but 336,000 - 13,000 is 323,000, which is 3,000 higher than the figure reported last week (320,000).

Just saying.

****************************

Aha!! Yes, I'm correct!! Yeah! Bloomberg reports last week's revised figure of 323,000. I was right on! Yeah!