Initial Claims decreased to 453,000, for the week ending 05/29, higher than the expected decrease to 450,000, after decreasing to 463,000, the revised level for the previous week. The 4-week moving average increased to 459,000, from the previous week’s revised average of 457,250. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 05/22, was 4,666,000, an increase of 31,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,635,000. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate from the week ending on 05/22, was 3.6%, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 3.6%. Tomorrow, the monthly employment situation is scheduled for release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 AM EST and the unemployment rate is expected to decrease to 9.8% for May from 9.9% recorded in April.
 
Nonfarm Productivity for the 1st quarter was revised to a 2.8% increase, lower than the preliminary estimates of a 3.6% gain. Nonfarm productivity increased by 6.3% in the fourth quarter of 2009, revised downward from 6.9%, after increasing by 7.8% and 6.9% in the 3rd and 2nd quarters of 2009. The gain in productivity reflects a 4.0% increase in output partially offset by a 1.1% rise in hours worked. From the 1st quarter of 2009 to the 1st quarter of 2010, productivity increased 6.1% as output increased 3.0% and hours also fell 3.0%. The gain in productivity from the same quarter a year ago was the largest since output per hour increased 6.1% over the four-quarter period ending in the first quarter of 2002. Unit Labor Costs was revised downward to a 1.3% decline in the 1st quarter, revised downward from preliminary estimates of a 1.6% decrease and matching expectations, following a 5.6% decrease in the figure reported in the 4th quarter of 2009, revised from the initial 5.9% decline.
 
The ISM Services Index is scheduled for release today at 10:00 AM EST, and is expected to decrease to 55.1 in May after remaining unchanged at 55.4% in April, following an increase to 55.4 in March. The index’s complement, the ISM Manufacturing Index decreased to 59.7 on Tuesday’s release after increasing to 60.4 in April.
 
Factory Orders for March are scheduled for release today at 10:00 AM EST, and are expected to increase by 1.7% following the March increase of 1.3% to $391.5 billion.

Crude inventories are expected today at 10:30 AM EST. For the week ending May 21, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories had increased by 2.4 million barrels from the previous week to 365.1 million barrels and were above the upper limit of the average range for that time of year. U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.1 million barrels per day during this period, 107 thousand barrels per day below the previous week’s average. U.S. crude oil imports were averaging 9.9 million barrels per day, up 99 thousand barrels per day from the previous week.
 
Upcoming Releases

ISM Services Index (06/03 at 10:00 AM EST)
Factory Orders (06/03 at 10:00 AM EST)
Crude Inventories (06/03 at 10:30 AM EST)
Unemployment Rate (06/04 at 8:30 AM EST)
 

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