Initial Claims decreased to 469,000, for the week ending 02/27, exceeding the expected decrease to 474,000, after increasing to 498,000, the revised level for the previous week. The 4-week moving average decreased to 470,750, from the previous week’s revised average of 474,250. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 01/20, was 4,500,000, a decrease of 134,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,634,000. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate from the week ending on 01/20, was 3.5%, a decrease of 0.1% from the previous week’s revised 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 increase to 9.8% for February from 9.7% recorded in January.
Nonfarm Productivity for the 4th quarter was revised to a 6.9% increase, higher than the preliminary estimates of a 6.2% gain. Nonfarm productivity increased by 7.8% in the third quarter of 2009, revised from 7.2% after increasing by 6.9% and 0.3% in the 2nd and 1st quarters of 2009. The gain in productivity reflects a 7.6% increase in output partially offset by a 0.6% rise in hours worked. From the 4th quarter of 2008 to the 4th of 2009, productivity increased 5.8% as output declined 0.2%and hours fell 5.7%. The annual measure of productivity increased 3.8%from 2008 to 2009. Unit Labor Costs was revised downward to a 5.9% decline in the 4th quarter, revised downward from preliminary estimates of a 4.4% decrease and lower than the expected 4.6% decline, following a 7.6% decrease in the figure from the 3rd quarter, revised downward from a 1.5% decline.
Factory Orders for January are scheduled for release today at 10:00 AM EST, and are expected to increase by 1.7% following the December increase of 1.0% to $370.4 billion.
Pending Home Sales are expected to increase by 1.5% today at 10:00 AM EST. The Pending Home Sales Index had increased 1% in December to an index value of 96.6 following a 16% decrease in November. The index had increased by 15% on a year-over-year basis.
Upcoming Releases
Factory Orders (03/04 at 10:00 AM EST)
Pending Home Sales (03/04 at 10:00 AM EST)
Unemployment Rate (03/05 at 8:30 AM EST)
Unemployment Rate (03/05 at 8:30 AM EST)
Consumer Credit (03/05 at 3:00 PM EST)
