Initial Claims decreased by 57,000 to 565,000 for the week ending 07/04 from 617,000 the previous week (revised upward from 614,000).Analysts expected a smaller decrease to 584,000.This release broke the 22 week streak of unemployment filings exceeding the 600,000 mark, and is the lowest level since the week ending January 10th of this year, partially contributed to a shortened workweek along with fewer layoffs than expected in the automobile industry.The 4-week moving average was 606,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised average.Reduced filings for the week ending 6/27 were mostly a consequences of fewer layoffs in the construction, trade, services, and manufacturing industries in Florida (-12,493) and Illinois (-5,321).Slightly offsetting were increased filings in New Jersey (+7,876) cited from seasonal, school closings related, as well as layoffs in the public administration, transportation, warehousing, service, and manufacturing industries. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment last week was 6,883,000, an increase of 159,000 from the preceding week’s revised level, increasing the insured unemployment rate to 5.1% from a revised 5.0% the previous week.
Wholesale Inventories are scheduled for release at 10:00 AM EST today, with May figures expected to decrease by 1% after declining by 1.4% in April to $405.4 billion.Wholesale Sales will also be released, which is a precursor to Retail Sales which will be announced on Tuesday.
Upcoming Economic Releases
Trade Balance (07/10 at 8:30 AM EST)
Treasury Budget (07/13 at 2:00 PM EST)
Retail Sales (07/14 at 8:30 AM EST)
PPI (07/14 at 8:30 AM EST)
