In Depth Analysis: CalculatedRisk Newsletter on Real Estate (Ad Free) Read it here.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

CPI unchanged in October; Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims at 291,000

by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2014 08:36:00 AM

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): Consumer Price Index - October 2014

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged in October on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 1.7 percent before seasonal adjustment.
...
The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in October.
emphasis added
I'll post a graph later today after the Cleveland Fed releases the median and trimmed-mean CPI.

On weekly unemployment claims, the DOL reported:
In the week ending November 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 291,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 290,000 to 293,000. The 4-week moving average was 287,500, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 285,000 to 285,750.

There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims.
The previous week was up to 293,000.

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000.

Click on graph for larger image.


The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased to 287,500.

This was higher than the consensus forecast, but the level suggests few layoffs.