by Calculated Risk on 1/12/2022 08:52:00 PM

Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, the initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for 210 thousand initial claims.

• Also, at 8:30 AM, The Producer Price Index for December from the BLS. The consensus is for a 0.4% increase in PPI, and a 0.5% increase in core PPI.

• At 10:00 AM, Testimony, Fed Governor Lael Brainard, Nomination Hearing, Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate

And on COVID (focus on hospitalizations and deaths):

COVID Metrics
	Now	Week Ago	Goal
Percent fully Vaccinated	62.6%	---	≥70.0%1
Fully Vaccinated (millions)	208.0	---	≥2321
New Cases per Day3🚩	761,535	556,134	≤5,0002
Hospitalized3🚩	124,163	91,030	≤3,0002
Deaths per Day3🚩	1,656	1,238	≤502
1 Minimum to achieve "herd immunity" (estimated between 70% and 85%). 2my goals to stop daily posts, 37-day average for Cases, Currently Hospitalized, and Deaths 🚩 Increasing 7-day average week-over-week for Cases, Hospitalized, and Deaths ✅ Goal met.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the daily (columns) and 7-day average (line) of positive tests reported.

The 7-day average for new cases and hospitalizations are at record levels.

Fortunately, deaths are still below the previous 7-day average record of 3,421 per day in January 2021.