Initial Claims decreased to 435,000, the lowest figure recorded in four months, for the week ending 11/06, against the expected decrease to 451,000, after increasing to 459,000, the revised level for the previous week. The 4-week moving average decreased to 446,500, from the previous week’s revised average of 456,500. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 10/30, was 4,301,000, a decrease of 86,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,387,000. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate from the week ending on 10/30, was 3.4%, a decrease of 0.1% from the previous week’s revised figure of 3.5%.
The Trade Deficit decreased by $2.5 billion to $44.0 billion in September, against the expected decrease to $45 billion, from a revised figure of $46.5 billion for August. September exports increased by $0.5 billion to $154.1 billion, offset by imports, which decreased by $2.0 billion to $198.1 billion. The Commerce Department provided the September figures of the trade balance of the U.S. relative to selected trading partners, in billions of dollars, with surpluses in Hong Kong ($2.3), Australia ($1.2), Singapore ($0.7) and Egypt ($0.6). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($27.8), OPEC ($8.9), the European Union ($6.1), Mexico ($5.8), Japan ($5.0), Canada ($1.1), Nigeria ($2.5), Venezuela ($1.9), Ireland ($2.2), and Germany ($2.7), Taiwan ($0.9) and Korea ($1.3).
Crude inventories are expected today at 10:30 AM EST. For the week ending October 29, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories had increased by 2.0 million barrels from the previous week to 368.2 million barrels and were above the upper limit of the average range for that time of year. U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 13.9 million barrels per day during this period, 233 thousand barrels per day below the previous week’s average. U.S. crude oil imports were averaging 8.6 million barrels per day, down by 885 thousand barrels per day from the previous week.
Today at 2:00 PM EST, the Department of Treasury will release the balance of the Treasury Budget for October, with an anticipated deficit of $148.7 billion, following the reported $34.493 billion deficit in September.
Upcoming Releases
Crude Inventories (11/10 at 10:30 AM EST)
Treasury Budget (11/10 at 2:00 PM EST)
Retail Sales (11/15 at 8:30 AM EST)
Business Inventories (11/15 at 10:00 AM EST)
