Initial Claims increased to 482,000, for the week ending 01/16, exceeding the expected decrease to 440,000, after increasing to 446,000, the revised level for the previous week. The 4-week moving average increased for the first time since August, by 7,000 to 448,250, from the previous week’s revised average of 441,250. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 01/09, was 4,599,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,617,000. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate from the week ending on 01/09, was 3.5%, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 3.5%.
The Conference Boards’ Leading Indicators Index numbers are expected today at 10:00 AM EST. The index had increased by 0.9% to 104.9% (2004=100) in November, better than the expected increase by 0.7%, after it had increased by 0.3% in October. The Coincident Indicators had increased by 0.2% in November to 100.1 (2004=100), after remaining unchanged in October. The Lagging Indicators had decreased by 0.4% to 108.7 (2004=100).
Crude inventories are expected today at 10:30 AM EST. For the week ending January 8, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories had increased by 3.7 million barrels from the previous week to 331.0 million barrels and were above the upper limit of the average range for that time of year. U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 14 million barrels per day during this period, 213 thousand barrels per day above the previous week’s average. U.S. crude oil imports were averaging 8.9 million barrels per day, up 540 thousand barrels per day from the previous week.
Upcoming Releases
Leading Indicators (01/21 at 10:00 AM EST)
Crude Inventories (01/21 at 10:30 AM EST)
Existing Home Sales (01/25 at 10:00 AM EST)
Consumer Confidence (01/26 at 10:00 AM EST)
