Initial Claims decreased by 10,000 to 514,000 claims for the week ending 10/10, not as much of a decline as the 508,000 figure our consensus estimate shows, following a decrease of 30,000 to 524,000 from the previous week. The 4-week moving average was 531,500, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s moving average. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the prior week, ending on 10/03, was 5,992,000, a decrease of 75,000 from the preceding week’s revised level, decreasing the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate down by 0.1% to 4.5%.
The Consumer Price Index increased by 0.2% in September, as expected, to an index value of 215.969 (1982-84=100), more than the expected 0.3% increase, after increasing by 0.4% in August and remaining unchanged in July. Over the year the CPI is down by 1.3%. The food index decreased by 0.1% over the month, bringing down the food index by 0.2% which is the first decline in the index in 40 years. The energy index increased by 0.2% and is down by 21.3% over the year. Excluding food and energy prices, which tend to be most volatile in terms of expenditure categories in a typical consumption bundle, the Core CPI is up by 0.2% over the month, and has advanced by 1.5% since September 2008.
Upcoming Releases
Net Foreign Purchases (10/16 at 9:00 AM EST)
Industrial Production (10/16 at 9:15 AM EST)
Capacity Utilization (10/16 at 9:15 AM EST)
PPI (10/20 at 8:30 AM EST)
