Initial Claims increased to 415,000, for the week ending 01/29, lower than the expected decrease to 417,000, after increasing to 457,000, the revised level for the previous week. The 4-week moving average increased to 430,500, from the previous week’s revised average of 429,500. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 01/22, was 3,925,000, a decrease of 84,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,009,000. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate from the week ending on 01/22, was 3.1%, a decrease of 0.1% from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 3.2%. 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 increase to 9.5% for January from 9.4% recorded in December.
Nonfarm Productivity for the 4th quarter increased at a 2.6% annual rate, according to preliminary data from the BLS, higher than the expected 2.1% increase. Hours increased 1.8% and output increased 4.5%. Nonfarm productivity increased by 2.3% in the third quarter of 2010, after declining by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter and increasing by 3.9% in the 1st quarter of 2010. Productivity increased 1.7% over the last four quarters while annual average productivity increased 3.6% from 2009 to 2010. Unit Labor Costs decreased by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, based on preliminary data, against expectations that this measure would remain unchanged, following a 0.1% decrease in the figure reported in the 3rd quarter of 2010.
The ISM Services Index is scheduled for release today at 10:00 AM EST, and is expected to increase to 57.2 in January after increasing to 57.1 in December and 55 in November. The index’s complement, the ISM Manufacturing Index increased to 60.8 on last Tuesday’s release after increasing to 58.5 in December.
Factory Orders for December are scheduled for release today at 10:00 AM EST, and are expected to remain unchanged following the November increase of 0.7% to $423.8 billion.
Upcoming Releases
ISM Services Index (02/03 at 10:00 AM EST)
Factory Orders (02/03 at 10:00 AM EST)
Unemployment Rate (02/04 at 8:30 AM EST)
Consumer Credit (02/07 at 3:00 PM EST)
