Initial Claims fell by 4,000 to 570,000 for the week ending 08/29, expected to decrease down to 562,000, following a 574,000 reading the previous week revised upward from the originally reported 570,000 level. The 4-week moving average was 571250, an increase of 4,000 from the proceeding week’s moving average. Seasonally adjusted insured unemployment from the past week (08/22) was 6,234,000, an increase of 92,000 from the preceding week’s revised level, adjusting the seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate to 4.7% from 4.6% for the week ending 08/15. This release proceeds the August Employment Situation, which will be announced by the BLS tomorrow at 8:30 AM EST, with the unemployment rate expected to rise to 9.5% from the 9.4% July rate, and Nonfarm Payrolls are expected to decrease by 228,000 following a 247,000 decrease in July.
The ISM Services Index is scheduled for release today, and is expected to increase to 48.5 in August following a drop to 46.4 in July from 47 in June. An estimated reading below 50 would imply contraction of the non-manufacturing section for the 11th consecutive month. The index’s complement, the ISM Manufacturing Index, broke an 18 month streak of contraction coming in at 52.9 for August on Tuesday’s release.
Upcoming Releases
Unemployment Rate (09/04 at 8:30 AM EST)
Nonfarm Payrolls (09/04 at 8:30 AM EST)
Consumer Credit (09/08 at 3:00 PM EST)
Fed’s Beige Book (09/09 at 2:00 PM EST)
