America: Growing Demand for Unemployment Benefits

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new jobless claims last week increased unexpectedly, but the demands of the three largest discretionary states at the Veterans Day could have affected the data.

The US Department of Labor announced yesterday that the number of new Employment Insurance claims has increased by 2,000, returning to its revised level given seasonal factors of 216,000 claims for the week. ending on June 10. Data from the previous week have not been adjusted.

The number of jobless claims fell to 202,000 for the week ending Sept. 15, its lowest level since November 1969. Economists polled by Reuters predict that jobless claims will drop to 212,000 last week. The Labor Department confirmed that claims for unemployment benefits in the states of California, Virginia and Texas, as well as those in Puerto Rico and Hawaii, were estimated. The 4-week moving average for jobless claims, which is a more accurate measure of the labor market because it excludes weekly fluctuations, increased from 1,500 to 215,250 last week.

It is estimated that the US labor market is close to or near full employment, with an unemployment rate of 3.7%. The lowest unemployment rate in nearly 49 years led to an increase in wages, the highest annual growth rate in nine and a half years in October.

US retail sales rebounded last October, as purchases of cars and building materials increased, likely due to reconstruction efforts in areas destroyed by Hurricane Florence.

The US Department of Commerce announced yesterday that retail sales rose 0.8% last month as consumers bought electronics and appliances. September data was revised to show that retail sales fell 0.1%, up from a 0.1% increase previously announced.

Economists polled by Reuters forecast a 0.5% increase in retail sales in October. Excluding cars, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales rose 0.3% last month. These so-called retail sales are most closely tied to the consumption expenditure component in the calculation of GDP.

September data were revised downward to show that retail sales increased by 0.3% instead of 0.5%, as in the previous report.